Jashin's Purpose
by AnchovieLord23
Summary: A sequel to Jashin's Curse. 12 years have passed. Naruto works to realize Jiraya's vision. The new genin are being thrown into the ninja world. Madara schemes in the shadows. A whole cast of original characters is ready for this epic kannon!
1. 12 Years Later

**Jashin's Purpose**

**Chapter 1 Twelve Year's Later...**

**Quite a bit of time has passed since Shikamaru has come back from his mission in Otogakure. Pein had laid waste to Kahona, forcing it to be rebuilt. The Fourth Great Ninja War had ravaged it further. The Akatsuki had almost completely annihilated Kirigakure and Kumogakure. Madara had found himself successful in removing Killer B's Jinchuuriki, taking away a valuable weapon. Naruto fought Sasuke at what is now called the Valley of the Uchiha, killing Sasuke while barely holding onto his own life. Madara's plan was eventually foiled by Naruto's raw power, however, Madaru had used Izanagi to avoid death and escape. Rumor has it that he took refuge within Iwagakure and performed a coup d etat, taking over the village. Currently, the village has been off limits to outsiders. Leaf, Sand, and Sound have formed an alliance known as the Triad in order to investigate Madara's whereabouts without affecting the village order or starting a war. The leader of Otogakure, however, felt that if they weren't going to tell him to not take their land than he would just keep taking it. Eventually, the military force of Oto became feared nationwide. Their Otokage was the only known leader to actively participate in nearly every battle. The Sound nation absorbed the Fang, Claw, Waterfall, Whirlpool, and Grass countries with incredible speed and minimal losses. The Rain country was forbidden to be attacked by order of the 6th Hokage, Naruto. After the Third Great Ninja War, the Raikage and the Mizukage broke off all relations with the Triad and formed their own alliance, nicknamed "The Storm". The Sand village decided to expand its territory to the borders of Earth Country, absorbing the Bear and Bird Countries. The Land of Waves and River Country voluntarily decided to join the Land of Fire, making the Triad into the three most powerful nations in the ninja world.**

**Shikamaru had been busy himself. Now that he had finally found his purpose, he had begun doing everything he could to fulfill his mission. The Nara clan had all accepted the mission of Jashin and were dedicated to accomplishing it. Their solders were outfitted with new techniques unique to their clan, and they always scoured the aftermath of sound raids for lifeblood to rebuild the forests. He married Tayuya after a few years and she was currently with child. She had accepted the immortality Jashin had granted her with a slight reluctance until Jashin told her that she could be relieved upon asking. The new group of genin were graduating. This was Shikamaru's time to shine. He had specifically requested Kazuki, which was heartily accepted by Naruto.**

* * *

><p>Kazuki shook with anticipation as Iruka-sensei began to announce the teams. He was an average boy of average intelligence and fairly good looks. His short, jet black hair was running wild as always. And his mysterious violet eyes sparkled as Iruka pulled out the cards.<p>

(I hope I get Keiko! She's smokin hot! Yeah, I'm going to be on a team with her for sure!)

He looked over at Keiko. Her dark hair glistened in the sunlight, and Kazuki couldn't help but notice that she was developing early...

(Damn... She has got it going on!)

Iruka cleared his throat, "Alright everyone, I will now announce the teams!"

The crowd grew quiet, eager to hear who they would be paired with.

"Team one will be composed of: Murakami, Namimaru..."

Kazuki looked at Namimaru. He seemed excited to be chosen first. His average brown hair didn't pull too much attention.

(Nothing special about this kid. He has no name, no looks, and no exclusive abilities. His grades were average... Glad I'm not stuck with him.)

"Nara, Yuna..."

Yuna smiled at Nami, he blushed a bit. The blonde girl had been friends with him for some time.

(That girl from the Nara clan... She's kinda cute I guess, but not my type.)

"And Aburame, Keiko."

(Aww, come on!)

"You are assigned to Captain Munashii. Please note that she prefers Muna."

Yuna smiled again, Munashii-sensei had been teaching her for quite awhile now.

(Oh well, there's plenty more cute girls. Like Tsubaki!)

Kazuki looked over at the cute, long haired red head. She noticed and threw him a glare.

(She is kinda scary though...)

"Team two will be composed of: Akimichi, Tsubaki..."

(Well that one's gone...)

"Hyuga, Joukei"

(White-eyed weirdo...)

"And Hatake, Jin..."

(The son of the copy ninja... I kinda wish he were on my team.)

"And you are under the command of Captain Neji."

(Come on already! Say MY name!)

"Team three is under the command of Captain Ino and is composed of: Inuzuka, Reika..."

(Down one hot girl...)

"Asano, Hanabi..."

(Two hot girls...)

"And Inaba, Misaki."

Kazuki slammed his fist on the table, "Three hot chicks on one team? You're killing me!"

Everyone in the room stared at Kazuki, "Um... I mean... Continue," Kazuki said like nothing had happened.

Kazuki began to mope.

(There's only one hot girl left...)

He looked over at Atsui. Her long grey hair seemed to flow like a stream.

"Team four will be composed of: Sarutobi, Kazuki..."

Kazuki cheered, "Finally!"

Iruka ignored him, "Kira, Isai..."

Isai looked at Kazuki and blushed. She had violet hair and glasses.

Kazuki smiled back awkwardly.

(Why do I get the nerdy girl! Now there's like no chance!)

Iruka sighed, predicting Kazuki's reaction, "And Yamanaka, Atsui..."

"HELL YEA!"

Atsui just giggled. Such a stupid boy...

"And you are under the command of Captain Shikamaru."

(Huh, the man who helped found Otogakure? I couldn't agree more.)

"Team five will be under the command of Rock Lee and is composed of: Lee Sin..."

(The blind kid? I'm surprised he passed the exam. He can't be a ninja...)

Lee Sin was tall and towered over most of the genin. His eyes were covered by long black hair. One might consider that a hindrance if he had actually needed his eyes in the first place.

"Marudashi and Morodashi."

(Ha, of course the pervy twins would be on the same team.)

"And that's all. Congratulations on graduating. I will hand all of you your headbands."

The groups all got together. Kazuki ran to Atsui, "Hey Atsui, we're in the same team, so we should get to know one another better right?"

Atsui yawned, "Why would I want to know anyone so dreadfully unattractive?"

Kazuki's jaw dropped...

(That was painful...)

She continued, "I wish I had gotten into a group with Jin, now that's what I call handsome."

(I'm suddenly glad he wasn't on my team...)

Kazuki heard a quiet voice from behind him, he turned to see Isai, "We could get to know each other better if you like Kazuki-kun..."

Kazuki smiled, "Oh well, you are on my team. So what do you like to do?"

"Well... I read books..."

Kazuki laughed, "Oh nice! Have you read Make-Out Paradise? It's like my favorite!"

Isai blushed a bit, "Um... not really... I thought they were a bit mature for our age group..."

"Nonsense! Here I'll let you borrow the first. I have spares!"

Kazuki handed her the first from his pocket, "It's an amazing story full of secret loves, endless drama, and horrible tragedies! Promise me you'll read it!"

Isai was a bit overtaken by his excitement, "Um..."

His eyes were glittering, causing her to blush, "I promise..."

Kazuki laughed, "Awesome! Just tell me when you need the other books, I'll hand 'em right to you!"

Isai smiled and Kazuki turned his attention right back to Atsui, "See? As a team it's imperative that we know each other! So tell me about yourself?"

Atsui didn't even look at him, "Not in your life."

Iruka came over and handed the group their headbands. Kazuki looked at his reflection in the headband.

(I'm finally a ninja...)

Iruka returned to his desk in front of the room, "Alright everyone, your captains will be here momentarily."

* * *

><p>Rock Lee was the first to enter the room, "Where is team five? I need them front and center!"<p>

"Over here sensei!" Marudashi called out.

The group all jumped from their seats and to Rock Lee. The twins stared in wonder at the size of his eyebrows...

Rock Lee nodded, "Alright, we are doing 10 laps around the academy!"

"What?" The twins said at once.

Morodashi moaned, "Can't we just to get to know each other or something?"

Rock Lee smiled, "That is a great idea! We shall get to know each other while we are running. I'll add 10 more laps in case I have extra questions!"

The twins just moaned as they followed the ever silent Lee Sin and the ever energetic Rock Lee out of the room.

Kazuki laughed, "I'm so glad I didn't have HIM as a sensei!"

Most of the class laughed while silently agreeing.

* * *

><p>Next, a pale woman with white hair walked in. She was astonishingly beautiful and her shirt was low cut, which was the first thing Kazuki noticed.<p>

(Damn... Why didn't I get her as a sensei... I bet she could teach me a lot of things...)

Munashii pointed to Keiko's team, "You three, you're with me."

They all took their leave without another word.

* * *

><p>Everyone immediately knew the face of the next visitor. Neji was a legend.<p>

Isai mumbled to Kazuki, "They say he fought on the same level as Otoga's 8 legged demon..."

Neji looked around the room, "Joukei, bring the team down here. We're leaving."

Neji walked out of the room before any of his team could respond.

Ino ran straight passed Neji, she was incredibly perky.

(Holy hell! Look at those...)

Ino smiled, "Where are my three girls? We'll get to know each other when we arrive at the spa. Sound good"

Her team all laughed with her as they ran out.

(I wanna come...)

And then, Kazuki was left with his team. The only ones in the room with the exception of Iruka.

Kazuki frowned, "Where the hell is he?"

Iruka laughed, "He's just lazy... He'll be here though."

Isai flipped open her new book. Her face grew red as she turned the pages.

About half an hour passed until Shikamaru had arrived, "So these are my kids?"

Iruka nodded.

Shikamaru yawned, "Alright, let's get started."

The three genin followed Shikamaru out.

* * *

><p>Shikamaru had led them to a hill outside of the village. He took a good look at each of his genin. Kazuki was admiring Atsui while she wasn't looking. Atsui, looked at Shikamaru, waiting for him to say something. And Isai was reading Make-Out Paradise...<p>

(She doesn't seem the perverted type, so it's safe to assume she got it from Kazuki.)

"Alright we'll start with you," he said, pointing to Atsui.

"What's are your goals?"

Atsui responded coldly, "I'm going to avenge my father. He was killed by Madara while defending the temporary Hokage, Danzo."

(A revenge case, we'll have to keep an eye on her...)

Shikamaru nodded, "Alright, how about you?"

He pointed at Isai this time.

Isai marked her page and stammered a bit, "I'm not really sure... I just felt like... If someone I cared about was in danger... I'd want to protect them..."

Shikamaru smiled.

(Such a kind girl...)

Kazuki spoke without warning, "I'm just go ahead and say it. I'm going to be a greater ninja than Naruto and get all the women!"

Atsui scoffed, "You wish. Your grades were dismal at best. And from what it looks like, you don't have any notable abilities."

Kazuki laughed, "I know you're jealous Atsui, but there's plenty of me to go 'round."

Isai giggled a bit.

Shikamaru frowned, "I know a coverup when I see one Kazuki..."

Kazuki smiled and stopped laughing, "So you saw through that huh?"

Kazuki laid his back on the hill and looked into the clouds, "I guess I'll tell you the truth... I do want to become a great ninja. That way, when I have kids, they wont grow up without their father."

Isai tried to comfort him, "Kazuki-kun..."

Kazuki never broke his smile, "But I know for sure that I can do it. Even haters like Atsui here will acknowledge me!"

Shikamaru smiled.

(He really does look just like his father.)


	2. Shikamaru's Challenge

**Chapter 2 Shikamaru's Challenge**

"Hey Kazuki..."

"Kazuki!"

Kazuki rolled over in the warm sun, he mumbled a bit.

Shikamaru lifted him by the hair.

"OW! THAT HURTS DAMN IT!"

Shikamaru eyed him, "You wouldn't wake up..."

Shikamaru set him down and called his group to attendance. He had allowed them to rest on the hill until nightfall, "I've brought you here because it's time for a text."

Atsui smiled. Finally, a chance to show off.

Kazuki wiped his eyes, "Why do we need to do a test? I thought I finished my last one at the academy..."

Shikamaru stretched his arms out, "I want to figure out exactly where you guys are at. I haven't seen much from your grades, so I think a field test would be nice."

Kazuki smiled confidently, "Alright, bring it on!"

Atsui smiled as well, "This will be interesting."

Isai closed her book and stood up. Her determined look spoke for her.

(They sure responded well.)

"Alright. You all appear to be ready. Since you are... I should tell you that my clones have all stolen an important item from each of you..."

The genin turned around to see three replicates of Shikamaru. The first was holding Isai's book she had just received from Kazuki. The second was holding a few magazines that Kazuki probably shouldn't have in the first place. The third was holding something strange, it looked like a dagger of some sort. Judging by Atsui's expression, it was hers.

Atsui was furious, "Who the hell do you think you are? Stealing out personal stuff like that?"

Shikamaru shrugged, "It wasn't me, blame them..."

Kazuki's face was red, "That's not funny! Give that back!"

"I can't believe Kazuki-kun would read such things..." Isai said sadly.

"It's not what you think! I just heard that Lord Jiraiya himself had used these pieces of literature to perform his research." Kazuki said in his defense.

Isai didn't seem too convinced, "I want that book back... I promised you I'd read it..."

Kazuki smiled at her, "Oh, we'll get it back! Even if I have spares, I think it's rude to steal other peoples possessions. I'll get back both of our stolen goods!"

Shikamaru yawned, "Alright, your test is to retrieve your stolen items by sunrise. If you don't, they become mine. The only exception is Kazuki's items. I'm going to burn those..."

"What? You can't do that!" Kazuki panicked.

Shikamaru laughed, "Oh I can, and I will... Alright, go..."

The three clones dispersed into the forest around them, each heading in separate directions. Atsui speed after the one that held her item. Isai held out her hand in an attempt to stop her, but she was far too angry to comply.

Isai frowned, "He's trying to separate us... But we can't go one on one against a jounin... There's power in numbers."

Kazuki smiled, "Then let's stick together. We'll get you that book back."

She frowned, "What about your... Um... Research?"

Kazuki scratched the back of his head, "We'll get that afterwards. We're a team after all."

The real Shikamaru yawned, "You better get moving... You only have a few hours until the sun comes up..."

Kazuki nodded, "Alright Isai! Let's go!"

Isai smiled and they both leapt into the forest.

* * *

><p>Atsui was gaining on her target. She was suddenly hit in the head with a tree branch, sending her down off of the trees.<p>

(That was a trap... I need to keep level headed. If that was a real trap, I'd be dead.)

The clone was close by. She made a handsign. Invisible chakra was emitted from her body, surveying the area. She detected the clone in a nearby tree, in hiding.

"There you are!" She said as she hurled some shuriken into the tree.

The clone fell from the branches to dodge the attack. It frowned, "You know... That sensory technique would've been great help to your teamates..."

Atsui didn't hesitate, immediately forming another handsign, "Earth Style: Shockwave Jutsu!"

Seismic waves were sent out from Atsui's feet, taking the clone off guard. It stumbled a bit.

(Now!)

Atsui took the advantage and swiftly threw a kunai into the clone. The clone lifted its arm to block.

(Even a clone should know that it's pointless to try and block an attack like that...)

The kunai sank into the clone's arm, drawing blood.

(A clone using his own blood?)

The clone got up and pulled the kunai out of its arm, "Alright, I submit... I didn't expect a new genin to know a chunin level jutsu..."

Atsui grabbed him by the collar, "The knife is precious to me! Give it back!"

The clone rubbed its head in confusion, "Knife? All I have are these magazines..."

The clone pulled the magazines out of a pouch and handed them to her. Atsui just cursed and dropped him.

"Don't you want these?"

Atsui ignored him and zoomed off in the opposite direction.

* * *

><p>Kazuki and Isai had located a clone. Luckily, Isai had pointed out every trap that had been set along the way. Kazuki attacked from the front with shuriken. The clone easily blocked them, but didn't see another volley coming from above. He reacted quickly and leaped down from the tree, allowing the shuriken to harmlessly hit the branch. Kazuki used this moment to get in close and use taijutsu. He struck Shikamaru off guard with a strong kick to the stomach. The clone avoided with a substitution and appeared behind him. The clone began to weave handsigns, but stopped as he realized that he was pinned. Isai was holding a kunai to the clone's neck.<p>

Shikamaru's clone clapped for them, "Well done. You already show that you make a great team. Here's your book."

He handed Isai the book and she stored it in her pouch.

Kazuki smiled, "Alright! One down!"

Isai giggled, "We do make a good team Kazuki-kun. I've already located the next target."

Isai disappeared in a cloud of smoke. She was always incredibly efficient with clones.

Kazuki followed a trail left by Isai so that he could regroup with her, which didn't take long.

They began to approach the next target carefully, when suddenly, Atsui was on top of it. Shikamaru's clone dodged well, avoiding her attacks pretty easily.

Isai took advantage of the element of surprise and attacked Shikamaru from behind. Shikamaru narrowly avoided her, when Kazuki came from above and kicked into the clone's chest.

Atsui kneeled over him, "Give me the knife!"

Shikamaru laughed, "Well, I would if I had it."

Atsui didn't look at him again, instead turning to Isai, "Did you already get the other clone?"

Isai nodded, "Yea... It had my book..."

Atsui punched the clone, "Liar!"

The clone laughed again and reached into his pouch, pulling out a bunch of magazines.

He looked at Kazuki, "I believe these are yours," He said as he handed Kazuki his items.

Atsui punched him again, "Where is it?"

Shikamaru's clone frowned, "You were so blinded by your rage that you didn't realize that the magazines that my other clone had were fake. He used a transformation on your knife to make it look like magazines. So you let him go, with your knife."

Atsui looked paralyzed, "But..."

She couldn't believe how easily she was tricked. Maybe she did need to calm down a bit... She would never beat Madara at this rate.

Atsui looked at her teammates, "I'll need your help..."

The clone looked into the sky, "You better hurry... The sun will be up in less than an hour... And my other doppelganger has probably gotten some distance."

Atsui cursed. Kazuki put his hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry we'll get it back. Together this time."

Atsui frowned, "So what's the plan then?"

Kazuki shrugged, "Don't ask me," He pointed to Isai, "She's the planner. I just hit stuff."

Atsui turned to Isai who laughed nervously.

Atsui didn't anything humorous, "Well?"

Isai's face grew serious, "Well, I need you to act a little for us. You need to feign still being in your rage and go in. Shikamaru will think somethings up and retreat, I'll set up traps behind him to throw him off and allow you to catch up. Then you and Kazuki will close in on him at the same time. The only problem now is locating him..."

Atsui nodded, "Leave that to me."

She made a handsign, "Two-o-clock, less than a mile away."

Kazuki patted her on the back, "I didn't know you could do that! Awesome!"

"Don't touch me..."

Kazuki just laughed as they headed in that direction.

Shikamaru's clone sat back and rested on the tree, not that he needed it. His eyes snapped open when one of his traps was triggered.

"Give me my knife you bastard!" Atsui yelled.

(Well, I guess she found out... Which means the other clones are down. I'd better pull back.)

The clone hurled a flash bomb at Atsui, giving him time to escape. Suddenly, his foot triggered a wire launching kunai at him from his right. He easily evaded by swinging down and hanging off of the branch. Isai came out of a nearby bush and threw some shuriken at him, forcing him to drop down. "Earth Style: Shockwave Jutsu!"

Shikamaru's clone once again lost his footing. Kazuki and Atsui both took advantage of the situation and attacked. "Ninja Art: Shadow Possession Jutsu."

Kazuki and Atsui stopped in their tracks. Even Isai was affected by the jutsu.

Shikamaru yawned, "And now I play the waiting game until your time runs out."

A kunai flew out and hit his back. The Isai trapped in the shadow possession erupted in smoke.

Shikamaru's clone fell over forward and smiled, "Nicely done..."

He pulled Atsui's knife out of his pouch and handed it to her, "I believe this belongs to you..."

Atsui snatched the knife out of his hand, "Don't ever do that again."

Shikamaru smiled, "It's alright, I think I've got a good idea of what each of your talents are. Now get to your houses and get some sleep. Meet me in the park at about three so we can receive our first mission."

And with that Shikamaru was gone.

Kazuki sighed, "At least he's giving us time to sleep," He looked at Atsui, "So why's that knife so important?"

"It was my fathers... He got it a long time ago from Kahona's Yellow Flash."

The rest of the trip into the village was silent. Atsui broke out of the group first. Leaving Kazuki alone with Isai...

(Aww come on! Why couldn't Isai leave first?)

"I finished your book Kazuki-kun..."

(She's not so bad I guess...)

Kazuki was actually excited as she gave it back, "So did you recognize the genius that is Jiraiya?"

Isai giggled, "He is a very good writer. Though the novel was slightly graphic, it was exciting too. I'd like to borrow the next one if you don't mind."

Kuzuki grinned, "Sure thing," he pulled the next book out of his pouch.

Isai frowned, "Why do you carry those with you?"

"Beats me." He said as he took the first book from her and gave her the next.

He smiled at her, "Cya tomorrow Isai!"

He waved and walked home, leaving her blushing and gripping her book.

* * *

><p>Kidomaru stabbed the Rock jounin with one of his silver spears, then threw the jounin off into an incoming chunin, who substituted. The enemies were focusing on him with everything they had... Perfect. Kidomaru instantly produced new weapons and armored himself. He dodged, blocked, and parried enemy attacks, spinning through the fray, and slicing enemy solders one by one. The forest around him was covered in venomous spiders that attacked nearby rock-nin. Kidomaru grabbed a survivor by the collar, "I want you to go warn whoever is in charge. That I am moving in unless they show their face. I want to know who is leading your ninja, because if no one is going to tell me I can't take your land, then I'll just keep at it."<p>

Nezumi and Jango appeared next to Kidomaru, "Jango, heal this man's legs and send him on his way. Make sure he can survive the trip."

Jango nodded and began his healing jutsu.

Nezumi reported the case on the eastern front, "We've taken the Spear and Hotspring Islands and have increased our overall territory. Our trade routes have vastly expanded and our treasury has never been better. The Storm Alliance is getting anxious, they have asked us to stop our constant expand and threaten to respond with force."

Kidomaru smiled, "We'll hold there for now. No need to make enemies with Lightning or Water. Our influence on the outside will gradually take them over."

Nezumi nodded and went underground.

Kidomaru looked at his recovered prisoner, "Well? What are you waiting for? Get going."

The captured chunin scrambled to his feet and ran off.

Kidomaru turned around to face his solders, "This is why the Sound are the most feared ninja of all the nations! We have been torn down and have risen stronger than ever!"

Kidomaru looked back to see a group of Nara Clan ninja leap into the battlefield remnants, "Ah, welcome comrades! We avoided damaging the forest as much as possible, so that you can not only fix this area, but improve it as well!"

The Nara jounin nodded, "Thank you for your kindness, Otokage."

They began channeling lifeblood from the corpses and into the nearby plants. They expanded and bloomed in seconds. Suddenly, the decrepit forest was transformed into a lush jungle.

The Nara Clan squad leader motioned for his ninja to pull back so that they could continue to follow Kidomaru's path of destruction.

* * *

><p>Kazuki woke up around noon, much earlier than expected. He tried to roll back over, but was unable to go back to sleep.<p>

(Oh well, might as well wake up then.)

Kazuki crawled out of bed and got dressed. He looked out of his window, only to see Keiko's gorgeous black hair flowing in the wind. She was always so surprising to look at. Most members of the Aburame clan hid their faces and bodies behind large jackets and their eyes behind sunglasses, but Keiko wore a purple short sleeved T-shirt and never hid those beautiful green eyes.

This was a once in a lifetime opportunity, Keiko was walking right next to his house and she was alone.

Kazuki rushed out the door without a second thought.

"Keiko! What's up?" Kazuki called.

"Sarutobi was it? I was heading to meet up with Muna-sensei," She said politely.

"Ah, doing a mission?"

Keiko shook her head, "Not yet, Munashii wants to make sure we are all combat ready before we go on any missions. She says missions wont help as much as training since the chunin exams are coming up."

Kazuki raised an eyebrow, "Chunin exams?"

Keiko smirked, "You don't know what they are do you..."

Kazuki got defensive, "I do! I was just... Seeing if you did..."

Keiko rolled her eyes, "The Chunin exams are how we genin get promoted to chunin. They aren't coming for a few months, but Muna-sensei only wants us to take C-rank missions until then, so she's training us to be ready for them."

Kazuki thought on that, "Huh... I wonder what our captain is doing about that."

Keiko shrugged, "Who knows? Everyone has different methods."

(Oh yeah! I had a goal! Eyes on the prize!)

Kazuki looked at Keiko nervously, "Well, if you want we can discuss their methods, among other things, when we aren't busy then... That'd be awesome..."

Keiko smiled at him, "It's a date then. I'll meet you in the park."

Kazuki struggled to keep his cool, "Um... Great! I'll meet you there!"

She winked at him and walked on.

(HELL YEAH!)

Kazuki walked with a spring in his step.

(I've got some time to kill. I wonder if the ramen shop is open...)


	3. Ascending Average

**Chapter 3 Ascending Average**

Kazuki walked into Ichiraku Ramen to grab a bite to eat. He might as well get breakfast before slaving away on a mission.

"Oi, I'd like some barbequed pork!" Kazuki yelled to the store keeper.

"I'll have what he's having!" A spiky-haired blonde man had said.

The woman nodded, "Coming right up!"

Kazuki laughed at the man, "Fan of ramen?"

The man laughed, "You know it."

Kazuki smiled evilly, "Wanna make a bet?"

The man just raised his eyebrows, "Huh?"

Kazuki held out his hand, "Whoever eats the least, covers both of our tabs!"

The blonde shook Kazuki's hand, "You've got yourself a bet."

They both viciously dug into their ramen, slurping down every bit with outstanding speed. Kazuki struggled to keep up.

(This guy may be skinny, but he sure can eat. Where is he putting it all?)

Kazuki finished his 7th bowel as the man finished his 8th. Kazuki was falling behind... And at this rate, it would cost more than he could afford.

Kazuki slammed his chopsticks onto the table, "I concede! If we ate anymore, it would bankrupt me."

The shopkeeper laughed, "Well you didn't expect to beat the ramen loving hero of our village, did you?"

(Wait...)

He looked up and down at the blonde man, then panicked, "I'm sorry Hokage-sama! I didn't recognize you without the uniform!"

Naruto just laughed, "It's no big deal, I'll even cover the tab."

Kazuki frowned, "I lost. Allow me to pay."

Naruto kept smiling, "You're just a genin, you can't have much money. I'll take care of it."

Kazuki could tell just by looking at the man that he wouldn't except it any other way.

"Alright. Just keep in mind, I'm gonna win it next time." Kazuki said with a wink.

Naruto smiled, this kid reminded him of himself, the attitude, the confidence. Naruto would keep an eye on this one.

* * *

><p>Munashii glared at Keiko as she entered the Valley of Fallen Trees, "You're late..."<p>

Keiko apologized, "I'm sorry, I got held up..."

Munashii looked away, "Don't do it again."

Keiko nodded.

Munashii motioned to the area around her, "Does anyone know why this place is significant?"

Nami and Keiko scratched their heads while Yuna rose her hand, "This is where our Hokage defeated the Akatsuki specialist, Kakuzu."

Munashii nodded, "Good. The reason I've brought you here is that this is the perfect place to practice chakra control. Watch as I demonstrate."

Munashii focus her chakra to her feet and walked up a dead tree. She pricked her finger, allowing her lifeblood to flow into the tree, giving it new life. The tree reformed into a titan, possibly 4 stories high.

"You must evenly distribute your chakra into your feet, allowing you to scale this tree. I want you all to be able to reach the halfway point."

She threw a kunai into the tree to mark the halfway point.

Keiko frowned, "That seems a bit hard for a starting genin..."

Yuna was more enthusiastic, "What Muna-sensei says is good enough for me. Let's do it!"

Namimaru didn't want to disagree with Yuna, so he just smiled and pretended to be ready.

Munashii yawned, "Well? Get going..."

Yuna sprinted at the tree, taking about 5 steps up, until she fell hard onto the ground.

Yuna rubbed her head, "Ow..."

Munashii laughed, "I'll save you if I think your fall will cripple you in some way."

Keiko frowned and took a step onto the tree. She took it slowly and made ten more steps. This was easy enough. Then, her focus broke for a split second and she tripped. Luckily, she regained her footing before she could fall. She slowly walked up the rest of the tree until she reached the halfway point.

She smiled and ran down the tree. This was pretty easy.

Eventually, Yuna made it as well, but Nami had only made it up a few steps.

Yuna cheered for him, "You can do it Nami-kun!"

Nami blushed and fell off again.

Munashii frowned, "Namimaru... You need to focus only on yourself. Filter out all distractions."

Keiko yawned, "There's no point in this, Nami really doesn't present much to the team anyways..."

Nami looked at the ground, depressed.

Yuna tried to comfort him, "It's alright Nami, don't listen to her."

Keiko scoffed, "You're kidding right? He doesn't have any special abilities, his taijutsu is bad, his genjutsu is bad. He isn't great at ninjutsu or chakra control... In a fight, he'd just be fodder for ninja from real clans like ourselves."

Keiko walked off at that point, leaving Nami crestfallen. Yuna tried to comfort him again, "Plenty of great ninja didn't come from clans. I mean, look at Kakashi, and Hokage-sama!"

Nami sighed, "Kakashi is the son of a great warrior, and the Hokage is the son of the 4th. They both have ancestors with a name... I have nothing. No background, and no talent..."

Yuna frowned, "You'll be fine. We were just lucky, that's all."

She walked off as well, they had been training for a few hours, and Nami had still gotten nowhere. Munashii returned to her home with Yuna, while Keiko headed to the park. Nami focused his chakra into his feet and tried to run up the tree again, falling flat on his back.

* * *

><p>"Come on sensei! This mission is boring!" Kazuki complained.<p>

Shikamaru sighed as he picked up another piece of trash, "These are the only kinds of missions that we can get as beginning genins."

Kazuki sighed loudly.

Atsui looked bored out of her mind, while Isai was using clones to pick up the trash for her while she read her book.

Neither Atsui or Kazuki were sufficient enough with their clones to keep them out for the hours they had been working.

Kazuki complained again, "Can we hurry this up? I've got a date in an hour..."

Shikamaru frowned, "Well, you'd better pick up the pace then..."

Isai had overheard and frowned. No one noticed because she hid her face behind the book.

Isai had always admired Kazuki, but from afar. It was only recently that she had tried to talk to him and get to know him. She had expected him to act like all the other boys and blow her off because she looked ordinary, but he didn't. He was still friendly and listened to what she had to say, sure he was a pervert, but most men were. Unfortunately, some other girl had grabbed his attention before she did. She thought to herself.

(I know why he doesn't look at me like the other girls... It's because his ideal girls are what're in this book. They are perky, beautiful, and they liked to show off.)

She looked down at herself.

(It's not like I don't have anything to show off... It's just so... Degrading... I just want to get his attention.)

She sighed.

(I don't want him to talk to me differently just because I look different either... I like the way he is now... He's honest and friendly and...)

Her mind trailed off.

Kazuki charged through the trash, picking it up at awesome speeds.

"HAHA! DONE!" he yelled.

Shikamaru slapped his forehead, "What am I gonna do with you..."

Atsui was already on her way home.

"I guess I'll distribute your pay tomorrow. Make sure you're here, we'll meet here at Noon." Shikamaru announced.

Shikamaru left with that, while Isai sat dazed under the tree. Her clones dispelled themselves to save chakra.

Kazuki walked over to her and rubbed his hand in her hair, "You alright? You seem distracted."

She was startled and jumped at his touch, "Oh, I'm sorry! I was daydreaming."

Kazuki laughed, "It's alright, mission's over anyways."

He helped her to her feet.

Isai turned red, "Thanks..."

Kazuki frowned, "You sure you're okay? You aren't acting like yourself."

She smiled, "It's nothing, really."

Kazuki smiled back, "If you say so. I'll see you tomorrow!"

Isai waved at him and left for home. Or at least, appeared to. She decided to stay behind to at least see who Kazuki was with.

It wasn't long before Keiko showed up to meet Kazuki in the park.

"Hey Keiko, sorry if I'm a bit dirty. We had a crappy D-rank mission." Kazuki said.

Keiko smiled, "It's no big deal, I was training, so I might not look my best either."

Isai stayed hidden as she scanned the girl.

(So this is the kind of girl he likes... Oh well, I'm not gonna stalk them or anything... I just wanted to see my competition.)

As soon as they left, Isai scrambled out of the bush and went home.

* * *

><p>Namimaru tried running up the tree again. He had made it a few steps further now. He had also tried taking it slow, but that only presented itself to be even more difficult. These hours had proved to him that he could improve, it just took awhile.<p>

(Alright. I'm gonna do it with this next one!)

He ran up again, two steps further, but the fall was a bit more painful. That wouldn't stop him though, he was determined to make it to the halfway point. He refused to be left behind by Yuna and Keiko.

* * *

><p>Kazuki brought Keiko to an ice cream shop, "I hope you like ice cream!" Kazuki said with a smile.<p>

Keiko laughed, "I do like ice cream! I want a strawberry."

Kazuki called to the shopkeeper, "We'd like one chocolate and one strawberry!"

"Coming right up!" he called back.

They finished their ice cream and decided to walk around for a little bit.

"You know of anyplace that's peaceful? There's too many lights on, and too many people here," Keiko complained.

Kazuki smiled, "I know just the place."

He brought her to Shikamaru's hill. The most quiet and peaceful place he could think of. The only lights were created by the stars in the sky.

Keiko was mystified as she looked into the clear night sky, "Wow! This place is amazing! How'd you find it?"

"This is Shikamaru-sensei's favorite spot. You can guess why."

Kazuki laid down in the grass, Keiko laid next to him, "You really know how to romance a girl, don't you."

Kazuki laughed, "Well, I guess I do. Usually I get rejected, but it's their loss."

Keiko rolled to face him, "It really is."

He rolled to face her, "Said without a single hint of sarcasm, I must be dreaming."

She got close to him, "Well, this might help you wake up."

She kissed him, surprising him a bit. He was silent for a bit, until, "That was awesome..."

Keiko giggled, and kissed him again, but with more energy. He returned the favor, but then he opened his eyes and spotted a weird looking bug on her face. He broke away from the kiss and jumped back.

"Watch out! There's a bug on your face!" he panicked.

She giggled, "Looks like we stirred up the hive a bit. Oh well, you wanna come back over here?"

Kazuki frowned, "Aren't you worried that that thing might sting you or something?"

Keiko sighed, "It's just a bug."

"It's gigantic!"

"It must be an alpha."

Kazuki shivered, "It's creepy looking..."

Keiko got mad, "Well, my body is full of them, so if you want me, then you'll have to deal with them. Besides, they wont attack unless I tell them to."

"I'm sorry, I knew the Aburame used bugs... I just didn't know that they lived inside of you..." Kazuki apologized.

Keiko calmed down a little, "Is that a problem, because I understand if you think it's weird..."

Kazuki shook his head, "It's not weird... It'll just take some getting used to..."

They both went silent for a second.

Kazuki finally said, "Let's just sit here and look at the sky... I'd rather not stir up the hive until I know them better..."

Keiko smiled weakly as Kazuki laid down next to her, "You can hold my hand without messing with them if you like."

Kazuki smiled and took her hand as they both gazed at the beautiful night sky.

* * *

><p>Namimaru had just enough chakra for one more go, then he'd be out.<p>

(I'm gonna do it for sure this time!)

He focused his chakra into his feet. His uniform was covered in dirt from the times he had fallen. This was it, one last go...

With a burst of chakra Nami ran up the tree. The halfway point was in sight.

(Just a little bit more...)

It was close. He was almost there.

(Three... More... Steps...)

He made one more, then fell hard onto the ground. He heard bones crack and screamed in pain... Unfortunately, no one was around to hear.

(I failed...)

Namimaru had always been average. In his classes, his jutsu, his technique. Nothing about him made him unique. He tried to compete with ninja like Jin, or Keiko, but could never come close. He worked hard, he tried hard, he gave it everything he had, but nothing seemed to help him catch up... And now... Yuna would leave him behind too...

(I wasn't ever fit to be a ninja...)

He began sobbing, partly from the pain of his broken bones, and partly from his broken heart.

(I'm tired of being overshadowed by those with family names and natural talent...)

"I'm tired of always being weak!" he thunk aloud.

His vision began blurring... That wasn't a good sign...

(It doesn't matter... I'd never impress Yuna anyways...I can die here...)

Suddenly, what looked like a gray worm shot out from the regenerated tree. Then, a few more. Then what seemed like hundreds burst from the tree and took form behind a strange mask that seemed nearly destroyed.

A voice was emitted from the mask, "You are weak... But I can give you power... Allow me to manifest into you, and you will be strong. Much stronger than anyone you know."

(Am I dreaming?)

The mask spoke again, "What is your decision?"

Namimaru felt like dying anyways... There wasn't much to lose.

Nami spoke weakly, "Do it."

The mask's voice echoed, "So I shall..."

Tendrils shot from the mask and into Namimaru. Intense pain surged through Nami's body, causing him to scream again and again. The mask placed itself into Nami's back and began to reform. The pain continued to surge, but something strange was happening... Nami felt his bones being put back into place. His energy was restored, but the pain kept him from moving. It seemed as though the tendrils were ripping his body to shreds and then repairing it again.

Finally, Nami could stand. He looked at his arm, it was sewn together by those tendrils that had entered him. He looked at his reflection in his kunai, his face hadn't changed at all, but he felt different. He felt much stronger.

The voice spoke to him from the mask, "Try again."

Nami looked up at the tree, then focused his chakra into his feet. He dashed up the tree at a speed much faster than either of his partners could accomplish. He got to the halfway point, but kept going. He jumped into the tree branches and leapt off of the tree completely. He soared at the ground and willed his hands to break his fall. They responded accordingly and cushioned his decent. Not even a shred of pain or exhaustion overtook Nami.

"Good... From now on... I am your teacher... I will make you truly strong."

Namimaru nodded, feeling as though the mask already knew what he was going to say.

(I'll show them that I don't need a name to be great! I'll be the strongest ninja there ever was!)


	4. Kekkei Genkai

**Chapter 4 Kekkei Genkai**

Kazuki woke up early the next morning. Keiko would be at his house soon and he told her he'd walk her to training. This worked out fine since Shikamaru preferred to begin training later in the day. He took a short shower and got dressed, then went outside to meet Keiko.

Keiko smiled upon seeing him, "Hey Kazuki, last night was fun. We should do it again."

Kazuki smiled back, "Yeah, we should."

They headed through the Nara woods, having conversations about their lives, what it was like to live with a hive for a body, and how their training was going.

Keiko laughed, "Mom and Dad push me hard, making sure I can do everything they want me to do. It's not easy controlling this many bugs you know."

Kazuki contemplated it, "I wouldn't think it would be, it's like commanding an army."

She smiled, "Yeah, but Dad showed me an easy way to do it. So, since you're a Sarutobi, what did your parents teach you?"

Kazuki frowned, "Mom can't really teach me much, since I'm not a genjutsu type."

"What about your Dad?"

Kazuki went silent.

Keiko looked concerned, "Kazuki?"

Kazuki put on a false smile, "Asuma Sarutobi died for the village before I was born. I haven't really learned anything from him, so I try to teach myself."

Keiko apologized, "I'm sorry, I completely forgot..."

Kazuki shrugged, "It wouldn't be the first time."

Keiko tried to cheer him up, "How about you train with us? We'll be done before your sensei even wakes up. Besides, you're good at taijutsu, maybe you can give poor Nami a few pointers."

Kazuki smiled, "I guess it couldn't hurt. Let's ask."

Keiko led him too Munashii who glared at him upon approach, "I didn't permit you to bring your boyfriend... Why is he here?"

(Ha! Looks like people know.)

Keiko bowed to her sensei, "He wishes to train with us. He doesn't have anyone other than his sensei to teach him techniques, so I offered him to join us. Maybe he could spare a bit with Nami and help him out?"

Namimaru smiled at the chance to show off his new powers.

Munashii looked at Kazuki, "What's your name kid?"

"I'm Sarutobi Kazuki."

Munashii's eyes lit up, "Ah, you are Shikamaru's student. In that case, I'll teach you. Have you already learned chakra control?"

Kazuki nodded.

"Good. I would like to see you spar with Nami for a bit. He spent the entire night mastering chakra control, but he still needs help with his taijutsu."

Yuna smiled at Nami, "Good luck Nami-kun!"

Nami smiled confidently, "Piece of cake."

He and Kazuki faced one another and readied their stance.

"Go!" Munashii yelled.

Nami led with a fast punch to the face, but Kazuki easily sidestepped and took the opportunity to knee Nami in the stomach, "You can't be so straight-forward with your moves, if you are predictable, you are more prone to have openings."

Namimaru scoffed.

(Is this kid even listening?)

Nami came at him again, but this time with a fast round kick aimed at the side of Kazuki's head. Kazuki blocked the attack, but Nami lifted off with his other foot and attempted to attack for the opposite end. Kazuki ducked to avoid the attack and punched at Nami's stomach. Nami caught the punch and sent his own fist into Kazuki's face. Kazuki took the hit and smiled, "Watch your feet."

Kazuki used his foot like a hook and caused Nami to lose his footing. Nami fell backwards, but Kazuki caught him.

Kazuki laughed, "You may not be the best fighter around, but you throw a mean punch. That strength was unreal!"

Nami smiled, but was still ashamed for losing.

Kazuki continued to lecture him, "Hand-to-hand combat is all about balance and prediction. If you can predict your opponents moves, then you can easily find an opening and time attacks of your own. This is why the long lost Uchiha were naturally proficient at taijutsu."

Munashii smiled at Keiko, "Your boyfriend is pretty smart."

Keiko shrugged, "Who knew?"

Kazuki had finished his lecture and walked to Munashii, "So what's next sensei?"

Munashii pulled a few pieces of paper out of her pouch, "Each of you take one of these. I'm going to teach you something most don't learn until chunin or jounin level."

The four students each took a piece. Kazuki sniffed the paper, "So what do these do?"

Munashii ignored him, "Yuna, I want you to channel your chakra into the paper."

She immediately followed orders, "Yes, sensei!"

She focused hard on the paper, slowly sending her chakra into it. The paper suddenly began to dampen.

Yuna looked confused, "What just happened?"

Munashii took the paper from her, "I just figured out your chakra nature."

Yuna raised her eyebrow, "Chakra nature?"

Munashii nodded, "Yes. There are 5 natures total: Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, and Lightning. If you are fire, then the paper will turn to ash. If you are water, then it will become moist. If you are wind, then it will slice in two. If you are earth, then it will deteriorate, and if you are lightning, then it will crumple up."

"So that makes me water?" Yuna asked.

"Right," Munashii then pointed at Nami, "Your turn."

Nami concentrated on his paper, it began to crumble away.

"You're Earth, next?" She pointed at Keiko,

Keiko's chakra caused hers to crumple up.

"Lightning, and finally our guest," she said as she motioned to Kazuki.

Kazuki forced his chakra into the paper. Something strange had happened. His paper began to erupt in smoke that covered his hands.

Kazuki panicked, "What's going on?"

Munashii stared in wonder, "I've never seen this before. It looks like you've inherited some sort of kekkei genkai, a jutsu only passed down by blood."

Kazuki was incredibly surprised, "But how?"

Munashii though for a second, "I've seen techniques similar to this. Vapor ninjutsu is created by fusing the fire and water elements, so your smoke must be a natural combination of elements. Something like fire and wind..."

Kazuki watched the last of his paper vanish, "Fire and wind huh?"

* * *

><p>Isai had been awake the entire morning trying to get this look right.<p>

(I never knew it was so difficult to look like this...)

She let her hair flow back, that part was done. Now for the clothes she had made, they were a bit tight, but she was willing to do whatever it took to get Kazuki's attention. She removed her glasses and looked suspiciously at her newly bought contact lenses...

(Is this really worth it?)

She knew her answer to that question. She might as well try... Though, getting contact lenses on for the first time was always a challenge.

(Ow!)

Isai looked at her reflection, it didn't look like her, but like someone completely different... It made her uncomfortable.

(For Kazuki.)

* * *

><p>Kazuki continued to spar with Namimaru. Both of them were a step ahead of the other members who were learning how to walk on water since Shikamaru had already taught chakra control to Kazuki's team, and Namimaru was easily able to do it on his first try. Nami eagerly accepted Kazuki's training. His mask told him that it could grant him the chakra and strength he needed, but it could not fight for him. Nami had to learn that himself...<p>

It wasn't long before the rest of the group members were finished with their training. Yuna smiled at Nami, "That was amazing! Your training is really paying off!"

Keiko frowned, "Now you might actually be slightly useful in a fight..."

Nami scowled at her, but she just blew him off.

Munashii got everyone's attention, "Alright, our training is done for today. I have accepted a C-rank mission for us and we will head out tomorrow. Keiko might want to say goodbye to her boyfriend. She wont be seeing him for a few days."

Keiko gave Kazuki a pitiful look. He blushed a bit.

"Kazuki!" Munashii got his attention, "It was good to have you here. I can tell that Nami has improved drastically in his taijutsu. Dismissed."

Yuna left with Munashii and Kazuki with Keiko, leaving Namimaru all alone.

The mask spoke to him, "Now we begin the real training..."

* * *

><p>Keiko held Kazuki's hand the entire way to the park where they met Shikamaru.<p>

Shikamaru raised his eyebrow, "Kazuki is the first one here? Now I never would've expected that... But he brought a cute guest, so that explains it."

Keiko kissed Kazuki and whispered in his ear, "Let's meet in the same place after you're done training."

Kazuki nodded and Keiko took her leave. Atsui was the next to show up.

Shikamaru thought to himself.

(Isai is the last one here? I wonder what's going on today?)

Eventually, an unfamiliar violet haired girl stood next to Shikamaru.

Kazuki couldn't help but check her out, being the perv that he is.

The girl talked quietly, "I'm ready whenever you guys are..."

Kazuki gasped, "ISAI? You look amazing!"

Even Atsui was slightly taken aback by the drastic change of appearance. Isai simply turned red from Kazuki's outburst.

Kazuki marveled at the sight, "You took off your glasses and everything!"

Shikamaru frowned, "None of this will be a hindrance in any missions will it?"

Isai shook her head, "No, I'm using extra-durable contacts. They should be fine."

Shikamaru nodded, "Alright, we're going to be training today, but from what I've heard from Munashii, it seems as though two of us have already learned their chakra nature. So instead of my original plan, I've decided to teach you how to harness that nature. Isai, I'll give you the paper you need to learn your element."

Shikamaru gave her the paper, "Now send your chakra into it."

Isai sent her chakra into the paper, but nothing happened.

She frowned, "Am I doing it wrong?"

Shikamaru scratched his head, "I don't think so... Maybe you just don't have a nature..."

Isai looked at the ground, depressed. Shikamaru attempted to comfort her, "It's not a big deal. I never learned how to use my own chakra nature. I got by using only my shadows and my brain. I'm sure you can do the same. You're smart Isai, that's your biggest strength."

She looked up with a little more confidence, "Yes, Shikamaru-sensei."

Shikamaru looked back to Atsui and Kazuki, "Atsui, the earth nature is all about brute strength. In order to truly harness it, you must mold your chakra into one area, then compress it. The further you can compress that chakra, the harder the minerals will be in your jutsu. This can be done the opposite way as well, by lessening the compression, you can create mud or even sand. Gaara of the Desert has taken this to the S-rank level, so never forget what I'm telling you."

Atsui nodded, "Seems easy enough."

Shikamaru looked at Kazuki, "As for you, we are going to figure out how to use your kekkei genkai."

Kazuki smiled, "Awesome!"

Atsui frowned.

(How did he get such an ability?)

Atsui didn't worry about it too much, she had already practiced her earth natured jutsu on her own, but now she had something to go on. She tested Shikamaru's advice and focused on compressing her chakra into her hand. She slammed her hand on the ground and small fissures erupted from the spot she had struck.

Shikamaru clapped, "Very well done. You keep practicing that, Isai stay with her and make sure she doesn't hurt herself... Or anyone else. Kazuki, come with me."

Shikamaru walked off with Kazuki. Atsui frowned and looked at Isai, "You can tell who's the favorite in this group."

Isai shook her head, "I think Shikamaru-sensei is just curious about his abilities."

Atsui made a few handsigns and slammed the ground again. The fissures were wider this time.

Isai opened her pouch and threw her a scroll. Atsui caught it, "What's this?"

Isai smiled, "I knew you were good with the earth style, so I borrowed this from my parents. It's an Earth Wall jutsu, I thought it might be helpful."

Atsui smiled at her, a sight that was incredibly rare, "Thanks a bunch. This'll help me with my training."

Isai opened a scroll she had obtained for herself, she had to learn _something_ after all.

* * *

><p>Shikamaru led Kazuki to the training field, "I've reserved this spot for today. I'm going to teach you you how to use your fire and wind natures, then we can get to the hard part."<p>

Kazuki nodded.

Shikamaru continued, "We'll start with fire. Fire natured chakra is drawn from the stomach, in order to perform a fire style ninjutsu, you will have to gather chakra in your stomach. Once the chakra is gathered there, you basically regurgitate it."

Kazuki laughed, "Sounds gross."

Shikamaru ignored him, "Unlike earth, you wont have to compress your chakra. Fire natured jutsu all changes depending on the heat of the chakra in your stomach. To generate this heat, you must increase the speed that the chakra flows in your stomach. I want you to try this."

Kazuki didn't understand a word other than chakra and stomach, but that wouldn't stop him, "Focus chakra into stomach... Alright, I can feel it..."

Shikamaru smiled, "Good."

Kazuki made a handsign to help him mold his chakra, "Change the speed of the chakra..."

Kazuki felt his body getting hotter, almost like a stomach ache.

He spun the chakra around in his stomach until he couldn't hold it in. A small burst of flame was shot from Kazuki's mouth as he burped.

Shikamaru smiled, "Not bad for your first time. Keep at it."

Kazuki made his chakra molding handsign again. Burping small flames that grew bigger over time. After a few hours, the flames grew to be four times the size that they started out to be.

(I think I'm starting to get the hang of this!)

He molded his chakra again, this time changing the shape of his mouth and exhaling the flames more slowly. The fire came out at a steady flow and looked like the breath of a miniature dragon.

Shikamaru clapped, "Congratulations! You can now effectively use your fire nature! I'll find you some scrolls when I have time so you can learn some basic jutsu. Next time, the entire team will train here, so be here at the same time you arrived at the park today."

Kazuki grinned, "You got it Shikamaru-sensei!"

Shikamaru grinned back, "Go catch up with your date."

Kazuki nodded and leapt off.

(That kid is special. It took Naruto a few days to master his chakra nature, but this kid did it in a few hours.)

* * *

><p>Isai watched as Atsui created a large earth wall in front of her. It towered over the nearby trees. Isai performed her newly learned jutsu to create training partners for Atsui, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"<p>

Isai effectively created 5 clones, a large amount for a genin, each of which ran after Atsui.

Atsui ran up her wall of earth, the clones followed. One of Isai's clones threw a shuriken. Atsui noticed and stomped on the wall, causing a jagged edge to shoot out and block the kunai. Atsui then made handsign, "Earth Style: Mud Fall!"

The earth scaling the side of the wall became a waterfall of mud, drowning the remaining clones.

Isai applauded, "Amazing!"

Atsui smiled, "It's good, but it needs work."

Shikamaru agreed as he walked into view, "That's why we'll be in the training field tomorrow. Not only do I need to work with Kazuki, but I need to make sure that we all have the skills we need before I accept our next mission. It's a C-rank, and we'll be outside of Fire Country. We must be prepared."

Isai frowned, "We haven't even had but one D-rank, don't you think we should do a bit more of those before we take on a C-rank?"

Shikamaru shook his head, "I think with the skills that you have, you are more than capable at trying a C-rank mission. I'm just making sure you can survive if anything goes wrong."

Isai looked slightly frightened. Atsui, however, was smiling with anticipation.

* * *

><p>Kazuki met Keiko in the clearing, "Hey Keiko, what's up?"<p>

Keiko smiled at him flirtatiously, "Nothing right now."

Kazuki looked at the sky, "It's still day, we could go do something if you like."

Keiko shook her head, "Nah, it's to crowded, besides, the sun will set in an hour or so."

Kazuki smiled, "The sunset does look great from here."

Keiko lied down on the grass motioning for Kazuki to join her, "Let's just enjoy it then."

Kazuki lied next to her and took her hand. After a while, Kazuki got up and practiced his fire style a bit more to use up his energy, while Keiko sat back and watched. After watching the sunset, they headed back into town for some dinner.

Kazuki looked around town, "I don't have much money, so our choices are limited to barbeque or ramen."

Keiko laughed, "I know what you mean, Muna-sensei hasn't sent us on a single mission. I'm completely broke. I say barbeque."

Kazuki smiled, "That's good, I had more than enough ramen yesterday."

He remembered his contest with the Hokage... Not his brightest idea...

Kazuki shivered, "Barbeque it is!"

They entered the barbeque restaurant to be greeted by an incredibly obnoxious voice, "HEY GUYS! SIT HERE!"

Kazuki and Keiko looked over to see Morodashi and Marudashi. They had identical features, blue eyes and spiky brown hair. They were sitting at a large table with Rock Lee and Lee Sin, Rock Lee looked at Kazuki and smiled, allowing his teeth to shimmer in the light.

Keiko and Kazuki both stared blankly at him...

(Is he really a ninja?)

Kazuki looked at Keiko who shrugged, "We might as well..."

They walked over to the rounded table and sat next to each other.

The twins both gave them a weird look. They talked in a way that made them finish each other's sentences, Morodashi spoke first, "Well, well, well... Looks like you too are rather close."

Marudashi continued, "We saw you holding hands on the way in, so we had to ask..."

Morodashi finished the sentence, "If you two were dating?"

Keiko eyed them suspiciously, "Yeah? So what?"

The twins snickered as Morodashi asked, "So how far have you gone?"

They alternated as they spoke.

"First?"

"Second?"

"Third?"

Then they cheered simultaneously, "Or all the way?"

Rock Lee appeared behind them and slapped them both in the back of their heads, "What did I tell you about respecting women? You have no right to ask such a question!"

Keiko sighed, "We haven't done anything if you must know... You pervs..."

Morodashi looked at his twin, "Think it's the bugs?"

Marudashi nodded, "Yeah, probably the bugs."

Morodashi thought out loud, "You think she has bugs...?"

Marudashi finished his sentence, "Down there?"

Keiko punched Marudashi in the face, knocking him down. She switched to Morodashi and kneed him in a place men dislike being kneed. They both fell over on the ground and whimpered, "We were only curious!"

Rock Lee apologized, "Do not worry. I will make sure that they are properly punished in training tomorrow."

The twins moaned louder at the thought.

Keiko seemed content to sit down and order, so Kazuki did the same.

They quickly ate their food and left for the hill so that they could be alone. They'd be separated for a bit, so they needed to enjoy this last bit of time that they had.

Keiko stared in wonder at the starry sky, "You know... I wish I could just sit here forever... Not a care in the world... Just me, you, and the night sky."

Kazuki smiled, "Yeah, life would be pretty great."

Keiko turned to kiss him. Kazuki saw a small bug on her cheek, but decided to ignore it. He kissed her back with everything he had, then they lied down in the grass until they felt like they had to be home.

(Tonight was perfect...)


	5. Mastering Wind

**Chapter 5 Mastering Wind**

Shikamaru had told everyone to wake up early this morning... Kazuki hated waking up early... He had no specific reason to now that Keiko had departed, but he got up anyways. He quickly made himself a bowel of cereal and took a shower.

He fixed his headband and smiled.

(To the training field!)

* * *

><p>Isai had been up all morning recreating yesterday's look. She had liked Kazuki's reaction to it, though he still had almost completely ignored her for that Keiko girl... But Isai wouldn't give up so easily, she had her eyes on him before Keiko did.<p>

She put on her headband and headed straight for the training field.

* * *

><p>Shikamaru sat back on a nearby tree. His genin would be arriving any minute now. Something had been eating at him for a while, he was curious. If Kazuki had a kekkei genkai, then he could easily become a great ninja. He was already fairly above average, but nothing compared to Atsui. Even Isai was slightly more skilled in the terms of chakra control and jutsu. This would change if Kazuki could master wind style, mastering two elements was something people couldn't do unless they had a kekkei genkai, or were of the jounin rank. He would have multiple different abilities at his disposal.<p>

Atsui was the first to arrive.

Shikamaru stood up and performed a summoning. A large bag appeared in front of him.

Atsui's eyebrow raised, "What's that?"

Shikamaru opened it, "A bag of scrolls. You are incredibly proficient at the earth style, so I thought that I'd build on your strengths," He pulled a scroll out of the bag and tossed it to her, "I want you to learn this one first."

She looked over the scroll, "An earth cage jutsu? This seems pointless to use in the midst of battle. It's slow and can be broken from the outside, or the inside if they had enough power... Give me something else."

Shikamaru shook his head, "Learning earth style ninjutsu has an order to it. Not only will learning this skill give you an extra weapon in your arsenal, but it will help you master other similar earth techniques."

Atsui frowned, "I'm still failing to see the use in similar techniques when the first is useless in a fight."

(Jeez... So stubborn...)

Shikamaru explained, "A long time ago, Naruto, Chogi, Neji, Kiba, and myself were put on a rescue mission. We were after a group called the Sound Four, which you might recognize as the previous occupation of Otogakure's 8-Legged Demon."

Atsui became slightly interested, "Keep going..."

Shikamaru obliged, "One of their members was able to keep all five of us trapped in one of these earth prisons for nearly 2 hours. During this time, he was also eating our chakra, making it hard to gather enough to break through. If one jutsu is powerful enough to disable five ninja, especially ones as powerful as Naruto and Neji, then I'd think it's worth learning."

Atsui couldn't argue with Shikamaru... He was usually right... But Atsui didn't want a stalling jutsu, she wanted something to break bones or spill blood.

Isai and Kazuki had arrived just a bit after the argument. Shikamaru caught Kazuki staring at Isai while she wasn't looking, but Isai could tell he was staring, she wanted him to stare.

(There's going to be some drama here soon... How troublesome...)

Shikamaru pushed it to the back of his mind, "Alright, now that we are all here, it's time to get on with training. Isai, you are becoming very skilled with shadow clones it seems. I'd like you to work with using your clones to create more clones. Atsui, I will have you work on using the earth cage. Kazuki, we are going to learn how to use your wind element."

Atsui and Isai nodded and jumped off. They preferred to train together anyways. Kazuki stood smiled at Shikamaru, "I've been practicing my fire style, watch this!"

Kazuki turned to the side and exhaled a large burst of fire. With the proper handsigns he would've performed a potent Fireball Jutsu. Shikamaru was genuinely impressed.

"Very good, but it's time for something completely different. Your father was a powerful user of the wind element, hopefully, he passed it on to you."

Kazuki became serious, "Tell me what I have to do."

Atsui molded the chakra in her head, then shaped it into a cage.

(Alright, got it!)

"Earth Cage Jutsu!"

The cage formed around Isai's shadow clones, but began crumpling upon its formation. The clones broke through with ease.

Atsui frowned, "What did I do wrong?"

The real Isai smiled, "Maybe you have to create the shape, and compress the chakra simultaneously so that it will hold together?"

Atsui nodded, "Earth Cage Jutsu!"

The cage quickly formed around the two clones, trapping them within. The clones pushed on the cage to no effect. Then one pulled out an explosive and planted it on the bar. A large hole was made in the cage. Atsui smiled and made a handsign. The cage reformed in a split second.

Isai applauded, "That was good!"

Atsui continued grinning, "There's more."

She clapped her hands together, causing the cage to thicken, then collapse, crushing the clones underneath the debris.

Isai frowned, "That's pretty brutal, but effective I guess."

Atsui grinned, "Let's go again, but this time I want your clones to come at me. I'll find a way to use this in battle if it kills me."

* * *

><p>Shikamaru handed Kazuki a leaf. Kazuki looked suspiciously at the leaf.<p>

"Ok... It's a leaf."

Shikamaru sighed, "Unlike fire based chakra, wind based chakra is contained within the lungs. There are two ways to harness wind based chakra. The first is the way that your father taught Naruto, you force your chakra into two halves, then grind the halves against one another, like sharpening a blade. This is used primarily to increase the range of physical attacks. The other way is similar to fire chakra, where you force your chakra into your lungs. In order to use this chakra, you must inhale a large amount of air beforehand, then combine the chakra and the air to create your technique. This is used for ranged wind type abilities. Finally, you can combine these two methods by grinding the exhaled air as it passes through your throat to create a long ranged cutting ability. One of our previous Hokages, Danzo, was adept at these types of techniques."

Kazuki was naturally confused. He didn't absorb large amounts of information very well, but he got most of the important parts.

(Cut chakra in half, grind it together. Inhale air, combine it with chakra. Then do both while breathing out.)

Kazuki smiled, "Let's give it a try then!"

Shikamaru nodded, "Good idea," he said as he pulled some strange looking knives from out of his pockets, "These are your father's blades. When you master this type of wind chakra, then I'll hand them to you."

Kazuki looked at the leaf, "So what do I do with this?"

Shikamaru grinned, "Cut it using only your chakra, then we'll move on."

Kazuki looked at the leaf again, "Here goes..."

He focused his chakra into the leaf, attempting to grind the two halves together, but it turned out, that it was easier said then done. He focused all of his chakra into the leaf.

(Now release!)

A small cut appeared on the leaf. A very small cut.

Kazuki yelled at the leaf, "What? I did everything sensei told me to do and that's the best I got?"

Shikamaru calmed him, "I watched you, don't use so much chakra for such a small item. Figure out how much you're going to need."

Kazuki nodded and tried again, releasing with much less force this time. A much larger cut was made on the leaf, but not enough to completely slice it.

(So all I have to is change how much chakra I use.)

Kazuki trained for a while, gathering extra leaves and attempting to slice each. His technique improved every time he performed it, slowly making his way down the leaf with every try.

He had almost finished slicing the leaf when he realized that it was nightfall. Atsui and Isai came out of the forest, each covered in dirt and bruises.

Shikamaru took the time to make his announcement, "You have all done excellently. So for tomorrow, I've accepted a C-rank mission that will take us outside of the leaf. We will be heading into Rain country to protect a caravan from any bandits or mercenary ninja. It's not too dangerous, but it'll be far more interesting then what you've done so far."

Kazuki got excited, "Awesome! What time do we leave?"

Shikamaru smiled, "6:00!"

Kazuki moaned. Isai frowned while Atsui stood there and looked indifferent.

Shikamaru dismissed the group. Isai walked next to Kazuki, "Um... I finished this one... Do you have the next?" She asked Kazuki as she pulled Make-out Paradise from her bag, "I'm done with this one."

Kazuki smiled, "Of course! Here!" he said as he switched her book with one in his bag.

"So are you enjoying them?" Kazuki asked with his usual grin.

"They were... Much different then what I normally read... But they have a compelling storyline, and are well written. Lord Jiraiya was very talented."

Kazuki was always glad to hear someone compliment his favorite books, "Damn right he was! Someday, I'm going to write a book like this."

Isai giggled, "I don't know if you are perverted enough to write something like this."

Kazuki scoffed, "Well maybe you don't know how perverted I really am!"

He immediately regretted that last sentence when Isai gave him a weird look.

"Um... I hope you aren't too perverted..."

This was it, now was her chance to get Kazuki to be attracted to her. She did learn something from the book that Kazuki gave her. She knew exactly why he liked these books. Now was the opportunity to show him that she was better than that Keiko girl.

(Here goes.)

Isai pretended to trip over an elevated step, Kazuki with his quick reaction time easily caught her before she had hit the ground.

She looked up at him, he looked genuinely concerned, "Are you okay Isai? You aren't acting like yourself, you're even dressing differently. Is something wrong?"

She turned red, but not from Kazuki holding her, she was angry at herself, "It's nothing..."

Kazuki frowned, "It doesn't look like nothing..."

Isai stood up on her own, refusing help from Kazuki, "I've just been trying so hard to impress someone, that I stopped being myself. I just really liked the way people reacted to me when I tried to look good. I never got much attention from guys before now, I let it control me..."

Kazuki acted innocent, "Well you can still look good, but just be yourself. I know for a fact that you'd never trip like that. You are always know what's where."

Isai felt ashamed, "I guess... Do you think I look good Kazuki-kun?"

Kazuki was taken aback by the question, "Um... Well..."

Isai frowned, "I guess I did go a bit overboard..."

Kazuki wouldn't have this, "Don't get all depressed before I even answer. I think you look good. I'll even admit to staring at you a few times."

She pretended like she never noticed, "So you are a pervert..."

"HEY! I AM NOT!"

Isai just laughed, "It's okay Kazuki-kun, we all have our moments..."

Kazuki wondered what she had meant, but didn't have time to ask. Isai had already left for her home.

(Huh. What a weird girl.)

Kazuki had to home and rest. He had to wake up very early the next morning, and the trip to the Rain wouldn't be very eventful...

* * *

><p>Tayuya stood in front of her three genin, "Are you all ready for this mission?"<p>

The three cloaked figures nodded.

Tayuya rubbed her swollen belly, "I wont be able to help you with this one, I'm grounded at the moment, so I'm sending a blood clone with you. Nara Style: Blood Clone Jutsu!"

The clone of Tayuya emerged from a small cut on her hand that healed immediately. The clone looked exactly the same with one exception, it wasn't pregnant.

Tayuya's genin stepped forward. Gumo, a darker skinned gennin with two extra sets of arms. His short black hair was always tied behind his head. Rin, a pale, black haired girl who carried an instrument case on her back. Her black hair covered half of her face. Sutishi, a short masked boy who covered his hair and most of his facial features.

"You will head out tomorrow. I hear a team of Leaf gennin will be guarding the caravan, according to our treaty we must capture or immobilize allied ninja without killing them if our missions put us against each other. Avoid their jounin captain... I'll take care of them..."

Gumo was the first to speak up, his voice was high pitched, but raspy, "Leave it to me Tayuya-sensei. I'll have them immobilized before they can take a step."

Tayuya frowned at him, "Don't underestimate your opponent, it almost got Kidomaru killed once, and against a Leaf ninja no less."

Gumo just smiled, he loved to play with his food. It had always been his clan's worst habit. Even Kidomaru still hadn't completely broken it.

Tayuya's clone spoke, "I'll help you with your training for today. It wont be long before I give birth so I need to stay in bed." The real Tayuya walked back to her home, wondering when she would see Shikamaru again. It wouldn't be long before they had a child of their own, what would she name it? How would they raise it? Unfortunately, the Leaf and Sound's shaky past would probably keep them separate... Shikamaru told her that there was nothing to worry about, however, and she always trusted Shikamaru's judgement.

* * *

><p>Kazuki awoke to the sound of his alarm. A very unpleasant sound... It was way to early to be getting up, but it'd be nice to have a challenging mission for once. Kazuki prepared himself for the journey. It would take at least a day, so he packed the essentials and set out.<p>

Isai and Atsui were waiting at the gate. It didn't take long for Shikamaru to meet them there, and then they were off. The Rain village was a strange place, Kazuki couldn't wait.


	6. Prey

**Chapter 6 Prey**

Gumo yawned, "Tayuya-sensei? How much longer will this be?"

The blood clone responded, "A few days at least. We have to cross into the Leaf in order to get to the Rain."

Gumo groaned, "That'll take forever!"

Rin was usually quiet, but chose to speak up, "Patience Gumo, it's not that long of a trip."

Gumo generally shut his mouth when Rin spoke. It was a rare occasion after all.

Sutishi glided behind the group, not really a social type.

Gumo sighed.

(Why am I stuck with the two least talkative genin?)

The blood clone continued to lead the group forward.

* * *

><p>Kazuki was bored. They had been hopping through the trees for hours. He was hungry and wanted to take a break, but couldn't because he wanted to look strong in front of Atsui.<p>

Shikamaru wasn't moving very quickly, so it wasn't hard to keep up. Why did he want to take a mission that was so far away? Was this like a special training mission?

A few hours later, Shikamaru had stopped, "We're less than a day away. We've made good progress. Normally I would've expected a genin to have tired out by now, but all three of you have endured wonderfully."

He pulled out a scroll, "Summoning Jutsu!"

Four futons laid next to one another next to the scroll, as well as a bag of marshmallows and several rice cakes.

Kazuki was famished, "Awesome! You have to teach me how to do that!"

Shikamaru laughed, "Eventually."

The group sat around the campfire eating while they listened to Shikamaru talk about some of his previous missions. Kazuki wanted to hear more about his missions with Naruto. Atsui was interested in Ino to find out more about the jounin members of her clan. Isai was interested in his battles, he had always seemed to come up with a clever way to defeat enemies far stronger than him... Though she had to admit that he got lucky every once in awhile.

Shikamaru set up a few alerting traps before going to sleep with the rest of his team.

* * *

><p>Kazuki woke up earlier than everyone else, something he had most likely never done before. He looked at his sleeping team.<p>

(No need to wake them up yet.)

He leapt off into a distant clearing and grabbed a leaf out of a tree before landing.

(Let's get this done.)

He focused his chakra into the leaf, grinding the two halves together. A large cut moved down the center of the leaf.

(I'm almost there now...)

He grabbed a handful of leaves. Kazuki was determined to master wind before Shikamaru-sensei decided to head out. He focused on another leaf, creating a large cut, but not completely slicing the leaf.

Kazuki fumed, "Crap! Why can't I do this right?"

"Because you're moving too fast, training isn't a race."

Kazuki turned around baffled to see Atsui watching him from a tree.

She continued, "You need to concentrate more and strain less. I can tell that your thought are all on completing this, but less on the actual doing. Focus harder."

Kazuki frowned, "I don't know if that's all there is to it..."

Atsui yawned, "It is. My mother taught me that when I was very little. You have to clear your head, and do only what's required."

Kazuki could see her point, he was excited about seeing the results of his training, but not focusing on the training itself. He tried to remove all thoughts from his head, but little things kept popping up. He didn't want to embarrass himself in front of Atsui. He missed Keiko. He wanted to hurry and get to the Rain Country. He pushed it all from his mind and focused only on his chakra.

Before he could even release all of his chakra, the leaf had already been cut in half.

Atsui clapped sarcastically, "Good job. Now let's see you use that in a blade."

She tossed him a kunai, which he caught in midair.

"If you do the same thing as you did with the leaf, you should be able to infuse you kunai with the same chakra."

Kazuki looked at Atsui, "Why are you helping me? I didn't think you liked me very much..."

Atsui shrugged, "I don't, but we are a team. Teammates help teammates."

Kazuki laughed, "So that's it, I knew it couldn't be because you had acknowledged my talents."

Atsui smiled, she never really had much of a sense of humor, but she could at least fake it for Kazuki's sake, "Just get to it, I'll watch from up here."

She laid her back against the tree and yawned. Kazuki nodded and began to channel his chakra again. A small film of chakra began to cover his kunai. It was small, but Kazuki could feel the difference of cutting power. He continued to concentrate his on grinding his chakra, causing the film to gradually expand. The chakra looked like it had made the blade of his kunai twice as long as it was before. Atsui watched with amazement, she hadn't expected him to be able to accomplish this so quickly.

He threw the kunai into the trunk of a random tree. The blade sank into the trunk and eventually pierced it, hitting the next tree in its path.

Atsui was stood agape, "That was amazing..."

Kazuki breathed out, "Dang, that was pretty tiring."

He smiled at Atsui, "Thanks for all the help Atsui, I don't think I would've done it without you!"

Atsui blushed a bit and turned away before Kazuki could see, "Of course, we're teammates so I'm inclined to..."

Kazuki smiled, "Whatever you say!"

Shikamaru appeared next to Atsui, "Well, I hope you didn't lose too much energy. We're heading out, and we aren't waiting up on you."

Kazuki sighed, "I'll keep up..."

Shikamaru led them onward towards their location, it only took a few grueling hours to reach the rain country.

Kazuki looked around him, the ground was desolate and there weren't any trees. No cover if they got into a fight. Shikamaru must have guessed his thoughts, "We aren't going to be escorting here. We'll be going through a Rain trading path, most of our surroundings will be pipelines... So we'll have cover, but it'll be a bit harder to predict an ambush. The pipelines will also give a good opportunity to set up traps.

The four of them walked up to the large iron gates of Amegakure. The village was large, but nothing in comparison to the Leaf. They entered the village, though it seemed like more of a city. The buildings were much taller than any of Kahona's, and they were all made from steel pipes. The entire city seemed to run on an incredibly complex plumbing system.

A Rain jounin leapt to greet them, "Ah, I'm glad you were able to come on such short notice. Sound raids have kept us from using our ninja on tasks like this. I'll lead you to the caravan."

The caravan wasn't too far, and it was already prepared to head down the trade path. It consisted of two carts that one could assume are loaded with supplies.

Shikamaru yawned, "You'll be able to take a small break here, I suggest that you do so. We've got a day long trip ahead of us. I want you all to be prepared."

Kazuki laughed, "It's only bandits, I'm sure we can handle anything they can throw at us."

Shikamaru, "Actually, I've received word that there may be a team similar to our coming to intercept the caravan."

Isai spoke up, "Similar to ours?"

Shikamaru nodded, "Yes, a squad of three genin and a jounin."

Isai frowned, "But we haven't been genin for that long... Can we really handle this kind of mission?"

Shikamaru smiled, "After what I've seen from you three, I have no doubt in my mind."

Kazuki yelled excitedly, "Yeah! So what lowly team of ninja dares to challenge us?"

Shikamaru frowned, "Word has it that it is most likely a team of sound-nin."

Isai and Kazuki both gulped, their expressions less positive.

Isai looked at the ground, "Sound ninja are the most feared of all the nations..."

Kazuki built on her comment, "I hear they perform weird experiments on their ninja to make them stronger..."

Shikamaru frowned.

(Has Kidomaru really built up this strong of an influence on us?)

Kazuki complained, "Why are we fighting Otogakure in the first place? They are supposed to be our allies."

Shikamaru explained, "Well the reason is that they want to assimilate the Rain country into their own, but due to the protection Naruto has given it, they can't use military means. So what they do is perform small raids like these in large numbers all across the Rain country slowly hampering its economy. This isn't necessarily a military attack, but a type of siege warfare. Kidomaru has never preferred to attack his prey directly unless he knew that they stood no chance of winning."

Isai complained, "Why doesn't Hokage-sama tell him to stop."

Shikamaru shook his head, "He would, but unfortunately Naruto owes Kidomaru quite a bit. You see, not long after Kidomaru became the Otokage, Hyuuga assassins attempted to remove him from power..."

Isai interrupted him, "Why?"

"He knows some of the family's secrets due to his previous encounter with Neji, and it's the clan law to kill anyone who may spread the secret. The assassins vastly underestimated Kidomaru, however. He was able to incapacitate five Hyuuga jounin without killing a single one, he sent them back to the Leaf without any signs of torture and asked if they could send someone "More challenging next time" I think it said. Now Naruto has established rules that restrict the Hyuuga clan from coordinating assassination attempts without the Hokage's consent. Anyone who doesn't follow this rule is stripped of their sight and forced to abandon their life as a ninja. Naruto has been fighting the Hyuuga clan's laws for ages now, but to no avail. They are very stubborn..."

These village matters went right over Kazuki's head. He was only interested in Kidomaru's strength.

Isai looked up questionably at Shikamaru, "So what do we do if they attack?"

Shikamaru sighed, "Our treaty prevents us from killing allied ninja, but we have a code, as do they. If either of us are able to incapacitate or capture the other group, then we'll escort them back to their village after the mission is complete."

Kazuki and Isai both looked a little helpless, until Atsui spoke up, "Sound ninja huh? Sounds like fun."

Kazuki and Isai felt some of her enthusiasm and each smiled, Kazuki cheered, "Let's kick some Sound butt!"

Shikamaru stood up, "I'm glad you're all ready, because we are leaving now."

* * *

><p>Gumo, Sutishi, and Rin all followed behind Tayuya's clone.<p>

Gumo began giggling, "I can't wait to scare the living hell out of each of those genin!"

Tayuya called back, "By the way, I forbid you from using your curse marks. You may let your chakra get out of hand and kill someone. You're just genin and can't control Kidomaru's curse mark yet."

"That's bullshit!" Gumo complained.

Tayuya shot him a glare, causing him to shut up. She was scary, even as just a clone. Even with this hindrance, however, Gumo felt more than capable of taking them out. They were his prey.

Shikamaru looked forward into the jungle of pipes. The Rain Village always had the most interesting architecture...

(It's almost time.)

"Hey, I'm going to scout ahead. You continue to guard the caravan, I'll leave a clone."

Isai raised her eyebrow, "That doesn't seem like a great idea to me..."

Shikamaru forgot that he had a smart genin on his team...

"If I find the enemy ninja, I'll immobilize the jounin and let the rest come to you. Prepare a strategy."

The team nodded, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Shikamaru's clone continued to lead the caravan as Shikamaru leapt off into the distance.

Gumo shivered with anticipation, the waiting was killing him. He wanted to fight a real group of opponents. He couldn't wait. He jumped from pipe to pipe just ahead of the rest of his team.

Suddenly an explosive went off in the nearby pipes, blasting him with water and knocking him off balance. He would've fallen if not for the webs he attached to his shoes.

Tayuya yelled, "Careful everyone!"

Sutishi stopped moving while Rin pulled the instrument case off of her back, she opened it to reveal a large clarinet.

"Rin, locate their position!" Gumo called.

Rin nodded and put her fingers into position, "Ninja Art: Echolocation Jutsu"

She blew a very low note that seemed to vibrate through the forest.

She looked up, "Gumo, below you, 4 'o clock."

Gumo turned to look, but it was too late, "Multi Shadow Possession Jutsu!"

The shadows extended from the shadows of the pipes and caught each team member, including Tayuya.

Shikamaru leapt into sight and laughed, "That was a bit too easy!"

Suddenly, the Tayuya caught in his jutsu was only a broken pipe. Tayuya came flying from above with a fast punch to Shikamaru's cheek, breaking the jutsu.

Tayuya called up to her team as she held down Shikamaru, "Get the caravan! I'll hold off the jounin, and don't do anything stupid!"

The team nodded and leapt off.

There was a silence until Shikamaru finally said, "That really hurt you know..."

Tayuya's clone laughed, "I had to make it convincing."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "They seemed convinced enough..."

Tayuya giggled, "Funny how this is the first time I've seen you in months..."

Shikamaru smiled, "Yeah..."

Tayuya's clone began to make-out passionately with Shikamaru, who resisted, "Hey! Hey! You're a clone! That's kinda weird..."

Tayuya sighed, "You've never complained about my clones before..."

Shikamaru frowned, "That's because you were there as well."

Tayuya smiled, "I'll still feel all of the experiences my clone feels... So you might as well..."

Shikamaru smiled devilishly, "I'd better not get in trouble for this later."

* * *

><p>Back at the caravan, the clone turned around urgently, "The Sound genin are on their way. The girl is a sensory type, but she only senses physical object, not chakra. It's a sound-wave of some sort. That's all I got and... Oh... And that's all I got."<p>

Isai raised her eyebrow, "Something wrong Sensei?"

Shikamaru seemed to be struggling for words, "Yea... This jounin is... ah... a bit tougher than I expected... It's up to you guys."

The clone erupted in a cloud of smoke.

Kazuki laughed nervously, "That can't be good..."

Atsui ignored him, "Isai, we need a plan. Their sensory ninja is using sound-waves, so we need a way to avoid those."

Isai thought for a second, "I have a plan."


	7. A Deadly Melody

** Chapter 7 A Deadly Melody**

Gumo led his team to the caravan, "Rin, what's their team look like?"

"There's three of them, and they've formed a defensive perimeter around the caravan," she responded.

Gumo nodded, "Alright, you two go down and distract them, I'll create the trap."

Sutishi confirmed his order by being the first to leap from the pipes and onto one of the wagons.

One of the genin smiled widely, "Bout time you guys showed up, we were getting bored waiting on ya."

Sutishi didn't waste time, he immediately hurled shuriken at all three genin, aiming for the legs. The shuriken flew towards their targets, who all leapt to avoid the attack. Perfect. Sutishi had pinpoint accuracy, and now that they were in the air, there would be no dodging. He prepared to throw another wave, until something grabbed his leg. A hand had busted through the wagon he was standing on and grabbed his leg, pulling him down into the wagon. Atsui burst from the wagon, laughing on the way up.

She looked around, "So? Is that all you've got."

They responded by launching a kunai in her direction, which she easily dodged.

(There they are...)

She quickly pulled out her own kunai and deflected the projectiles. Suddenly, the kunai that was just flung at her came flying back in the direction that they came from. Atsui squinted to see a nearly invisible thread attached to it. A figure appeared in the pipes. It had six arms, one of which caught the flung kunai. Atsui scowled... (Showoff...)

Gumo laughed, "You're too easy! That kunai wasn't the only thing I threw!"

Atsui looked at the wagon, it was crawling with small spiders. She attempted to jump away, but her feet were stuck to the wagon.

The swarm of spiders scurried towards her, but she just smiled.

"Earth Style: Mud Conversion."

Atsui's shoes began to melt into a type of mud, pushing away the spiders and freeing her from the trap. She jumped off of the wagon and onto the ground. Isai leapt out of the wagon behind her, holding a tied up sutishi. Gumo looked around...where had that third one gone?

Kazuki appeared behind Gumo, "Looking for someone?"

Gumo smiled, "Not anymore."

Kazuki was about to strike, but found himself tangled in some sort of wire.

(Spider web?)

Gumo turned around and punched Kazuki in the stomach, "Fell right into my trap."

Kazuki struggled, "What is this stuff?"

"That's a type of web that I create with my body. It's powered by my chakra, so don't even attempt to pull it apart," Gumo bragged.

Kazuki grinned, "Ok, I'll try something else!"

Kazuki inhaled and sped up the chakra in his stomach, then exhaled a small burst of fire at Gumo, who retreated. Kazuki then targeted the threads around him. The fire turned the threads to ash in seconds.

Gumo scowled, "This kid uses fire... Rin! Assistance!"

A black-haired girl jumped and swung a large, iron clarinet into Kazuki, who turned out to be a log.

Rin landed and immediately made a handsign, "Hell Horn: Lapsing Ballet."

Kazuki snickered to himself, but remained hidden behind a layer of pipes.

(What kinda name for a technique is that?)

Rin began to play a very low pitched melody that echoed through Kazuki's ears.

(What? My legs are aching. I need to stop that melody.)

Kazuki jumped onto a different group of pipes. Upon landing, a massive pain surged through his legs, causing him to lose balance and fall to his knees.

(Great... So I can't move around at all... How do I get out of this?)

Kazuki didn't have time to think, as a few shuriken flew towards him. He pulled out his kunai and deflected.

Gumo emerged from the shadows created by overhead pipes, "One trapped fly! Rin's melody is perfect for weakening my prey so I can kill them one at a time...but village regulations say otherwise. I guess I'll just have to tie you up."

(Why isn't he affected by the music?)

Kazuki's eyes widened as he came to a realization.

(I'll just have to fight through the pain!)

Kazuki stood up and readied his kunai. Gumo laughed, "Don't even bother fighting! You're about as strong as a 5-year old right now!"

Kazuki winced in pain... Standing was incredibly agonizing...

Gumo's mouth looked as though it had swollen for a second, until webs came bursting from him, "Spider Web Net!"

Kazuki knew that he couldn't dodge... He had to let the nets hit him...

Kazuki was blown back into a wall of pipes after the nets connected. He struggled to move, and the music had made that much more painful than it would've been. Gumo walked towards Kazuki slowly and placed a kunai at Kazuki's throat, "That thread is infused with my chakra, there's no escape from this," He pressed the tip against Kazuki's neck, "If it were up to me, then you'd be dead! Remember that!"

Gumo turned away from Kazuki and began to walk off. Kazuki grinned as he quietly removed the spider threads from his body. He then put his hands into each of Gumo's ears and pulled...

Gumo had no time to react as Kazuki removed the strange ear-buds from his ears. He felt a harsh pain on his back, which was Kazuki kicking him forward onto the platform of pipes they had been standing on.

Kazuki quickly put on Gumo's ear-buds, "Ah! This feels much better!"

Gumo started to yell for assistance, but was interrupted a hard pat on the back. Kazuki laughed, "I'm sorry, but I'm not going to let your teammate come and rescue you."

Gumo panted, "How did you get out of my threads?"

Kazuki winked, "You said that the web was infused with your chakra, so I just used mine to counteract it."

Kazuki held up a kunai to demonstarate. His wind chakra flowed through the blade, granting it a boosted sharpness and reach. Gumo was astonished at this boy's mastery of his chakra natures, "You guys can't possibly be genin!"

Kazuki smiled as he tied an iron rope around each of Gumo's hands, "I'm going to have to stay here and watch you, my team will take out your last member with the oversized band instrument."

Gumo smiled, "I doubt it, they probably can't even move."

Kazuki yelled, "Atsui, the guy you captured has a special type of technology in his ear! Use it to get close to the last one!"

Gumo yawned, "You know they can't hear you, why bother?"

Kazuki smiled, "I don't actually care about that."

Suddenly, the music stopped. Gumo snarled, "I can't believe she fell for that."

* * *

><p>Isai struggled on her way up, still holding onto the tied up Sutishi. Kazuki must have silenced the genjutsu. Atsui shook off the pain and leapt towards the location of the music. It didn't take her long to reach Rin, who was waiting for her. Atsui didn't waste any time, instantly hurling a group of shuriken into Rin, but they phased though her...<p>

(A doppelganger.)

Atsui turned around to deflect incoming projectiles and look at the girl who had thrown them. She was wielding an enormous instrument... So how did she throw the shuriken? Rin answered her question by blowing into her horn, launching three shuriken at her, much faster than any human could have thrown it, but Atsui had was fast, and had a few tricks up her own sleeve. "Yamanaka Style: Slowing Field!"

A strange psychic chakra emitted from Atsui's head immediately slowed the projectiles to a human pace. Atsui caught the shuriken between her fingers and hurled them back. Rin blew into her horn, knocking the shuriken out of the air and damaging the pipes Atsui was standing on. Atsui felt the pipes underneath her shudder.

(This battlefield is quite aggravating...)

Atsui leapt away as water exploded from where she was standing. Rin made a handsign, "Hell Horn: Hymn of Hunger!"

A spectral mass began to float from out of Rin's insturment, it looked like a gray ghost covered in mouths. Rin began to play a dark melody that created a beautiful, but evil atmosphere for the battle.

The spirit reacted to every note played and began to dance in the air before charging at Atsui. Atsui threw a shuriken into the figure, but it sailed harmlessly through. She tried to evade it, but felt teeth sink into her shoulder. Atsui screamed in pain.

She looked at her shoulder.

(There isn't a mark, but I felt it bite me. Is the pain just an illusion? No... I feel myself losing chakra...)

Her thoughts were confirmed as the figure began to grow in size.

(It ate my chakra... I need to avoid that thing at all costs.)

The spirit reared back for another attack, but Atsui hurled a kunai into the pipe below her, shrouding her in a cloud of mist.

The spirit lost her in the haze.

(So it can only move as directed...it can't see me on it's own. So as long as I blind the controller, that weird ghost can't find me.)

Atsui took advantage of this and hurled an explosive kunai into the pipes above Rin. She attempted to leap out of the fog while playing her tune.

(Now her hands are occupied.)

Atsui leapt into close quarters to attack, throwing a punch at Rin's gut. Rin was forced to cut off her tune causing the ghost to fade away. Rin did, however, block the punch and return the favor by swinging her clarinet straight into Atsui's side. Atsui was able to block, but the blunt, metal instrument caused pain to surge through her. Rin took advantage of Atsui's pain and kicked her to the ground below the pipes. Rin landed a safe distance away and watched as Atsui scrambled to her feet.

Rin frowned, "You sure can take a beating."

Atsui spat blood, "Finally, I lured you down here. Ninja Art: Earth Cage Jutsu!"

Rin reacted quickly and attempted to jump away, but the prison was forming above her too.

"How the...?"

Rin interrupted herself as she saw the mud covering the bottom of the pipes. Instead she swung her instrument, attempting to break the cage before it fully developed. Atsui tightened her grip, using her chakra to create an extra layer of rock. Atsui's clarinet hit the rock to no avail.

Rin smiled, "This doesn't affect me at all you know."

She raised her clarinet to her mouth and began to play her dark melody. The ghost shot from her instrument and into Atsui, who didn't seem to move. A clone... Suddenly, a hand shot up from the earth beneath Rin, grabbing her ankle and pulling her under.

Only Rin's head remained above ground while Atsui crawled out in front of her, "Looks like you weren't as tough as you thought, huh?"

Rin began to grind her teeth together, "You cocky bitch!"

Suddenly, a strange marking began to spread across her body.

Rin's personality began changing, "I'm gonna rip out your tongue!"

Atsui payed no mind, "I don't think you're in any position to ta..."

She immediately created some distance as Rin began pulling herself out from the ground.

(She did that with only brute force...that's not a good sign.)

Rin put her clarinet to her mouth, "Hell Horn: Ravenous Evolution"

As the new melody played, the spirit arose from her instrument again, but this time it was different. It seemed to be growing deformed hands and eyes to add to it's ghastly figure. It opened its mouths and loosed a deafening screech.

* * *

><p>Kazuki heard the dark melody, then the screech. He couldn't help but worry about Atsui.<p>

(What kind of opponent was she up against?)

Gumo cackled to himself, "Your friends as good as dead."

Kazuki frowned, "One would hope that your teammate isn't stupid enough to violate the treaty."

Gumo smiled, "That's not it, it's just that when Rin goes into first state, she loses a bit of her rationality. Hopefully she'll retain enough of it to leave your friend on the verge of death."

Kazuki smiled, "Don't underestimate Atsui, she's a one of the best."

Gumo kept his smile, "You must be new to this whole ninja business. You seem a little rough around the edges."

Kazuki frown, "I was good enough to beat you."

Gumo scoffed, "You're good and I underestimated you. I'll admit to that. But I can tell that you haven't been at this for very long, you still have so much personality."

Kazuki raised his eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

Gumo's smile faded, "When you take someone else's life, you lose a bit of yourself in the process. We genin are still pretty attached to our emotions. Rin isn't like that. The only emotion I've seen her show is anger. You know the reason for that?"

Kazuki shook his head.

"It's because she has killed far more people than most chunin."

* * *

><p>Tayuya's clone shot up at the sound of the screech. Shikamaru slowly got back up and put his shirt back on, "What is it?"<p>

Tayuya frowned, "One of my students broke the rules I set for them. We have to hurry."

Shikamaru nodded and grabbed his clothing.

* * *

><p>Atsui shrank back from the monstrous spirit. Something in her body was telling her to run.<p>

The spirit began to talk through each of its mouths, its voice was raspy and seemed to echo through the pipelines, "How do you like it? I've killed jounin with this jutsu."

(Surely a bluff. I've just got to find a way to hit the controller.)

Atsui didn't waste a second and hurled three shuriken straight at Rin. The ghost floated in front of them. They sailed through the ghost, but were slowed down as though moving through a viscous fluid and fell harmlessly down from the monster's back.

The spirit then sped for Atsui.

(What am I supposed to do against this thing?)

Atsui made a handsign, "Earth Wall!"

A wall of solid rock emerged in front of Atsui.

"This only hinders your sight." The eerie voice said.

Without warning, a spectral hand shot out from the earth wall and through Atsui's stomach. Atsui felt her chakra slipping away from her. The ghost's other hand shot out and slashed through Atsui's leg. Atsui screamed in pain as her leg began bleeding.

(What the hell is this thing?)

She didn't have time to question it, she had to get away. She threw a smoke bomb at her feet and leapt away. Suddenly, she felt something grab her leg and she was slammed hard onto the ground. She looked back to see a tongue shooting out of the cloud of smoke. As it cleared, she noticed it had come from an open mouth on the monster.

The eerie voice echoed through the surroundings, "You didn't think I'd let you get away, did you?"

Atsui slashed at the tongue that was holding her leg, but her attack slipped through it.

(What is this? How can my attack go right through it but it can still touch me?)

The tongue wrapped around her leg began to squeeze. She screamed in pain.

"Embrace the pain, enjoy it, it'll be the last thing you ever feel."

Atsui realized that she had no other option, "I give up! You can tie me up or whatever!"

"I don't give a damn about village treaties. I'll kill whoever I feel like."

Atsui screamed again as the tongue squeezed harder.

Suddenly, Kazuki flew from above slicing his wind enhanced chakra blade straight through the ghastly tongue. The tongue loosened its grip on Atsui as it was severed from the ghost.

"Ah, more prey. I'm surprised you can utilize chakra like this at your level. Not that it matters."

The spirit's tongue grew back, like it was showing off.

Kazuki looked back at Atsui, "You alright?"

Atsui nodded, "Yeah... Thanks."

Kazuki helped her up, "I don't know if we can beat this thing, but we can sure as hell try."

"Shadow Stitching Jutsu!"

Shikamaru's shadow tendrils shot through the ghost forcing it down. Tayuya appeared next to Rin and ripped the clarinet from her hands, "You disobeyed me Rin. I warned you not to use Kidomaru's seal."

Rin said nothing as the marks on her skin began to fade away.

Kazuki scratched his head, "What's going on? I thought you two were fighting?"

Shikamaru yawned, "About that... This whole thing was a setup."

Atsui got mad, "I almost got killed 'cause of that crazy bitch!" she said, pointing to Rin.

Shikamaru shrugged, "Unforeseen circumstances. I thought that you'd be able to handle it. Besides, Tayuya will punish her later."

Kazuki looked at Tayuya, then back at Shikamaru, "So you two must know each other."

Tayuya walked over to Kazuki, "You could say that. I'm Tayuya, Shikamaru's fiance. Well, a clone of her anyway."

Kazuki looked her over. Surely a beautiful girl like this couldn't be with Shikamaru.

Kazuki scratched his head, "Did you lose a bet?"

Shikamaru frowned, "I know where you live Kazuki."

Kazuki smiled at Shikamaru, "Bring it on Sensei."

Isai, Gumo, and Sutishi all leapt into the clearing.

"Sutishi! You moron! Why'd you leap in like that?" Gumo complained.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to take them out quickly." Sutishi had said in his defense.

Isai laughed, "You guys may have won if you didn't jump in like that."

Sutishi dropped his head and whispered to himself, "I can't believe I'm being lectured by the enemy."

Gumo patted him on the back, "You did good, bud. Let's get back."

Tayuya called her group to attention. Shikamaru did the same.

"Guys, you did a great job at deciphering their abilities and taking them in. As a matter of fact, I was expecting you to lose." Shikamaru stated casually.

Isai and Kazuki frowned, but Atsui busted out, "You expected me to die?"

Shikamaru sighed, "No... I thought you'd be able to put up a good fight, and I trusted Tayuya to have taught her students well enough to avoid killing or crippling you. I thought it'd be good for you to fight a real battle, to learn how it could cost you everything if you lose."

Atsui frowned. Kazuki turned to him, "What would've happened if Atsui had died?"

"Then the Leaf would have the right to apprehend her killer as a criminal and deal with them as such."

Isai frowned, "An eye for an eye."

Shikamaru tried to cheer the group up, "On the bright side, you did much better than I expected. Isai, your plan took out one of them quickly. Kazuki, you were able to find a weakness in the enemy's battle plan and turn it against them. Atsui, you fought one on one against an opponent far more experienced than yourself and won."

Atsui turned away from him, "I didn't win... I would've died if Kazuki didn't save me..."

Shikamaru sighed, "If that's the way you look at it, then none of you won because Tayuya's entire squad utilizes the Mark of the Sound."

Kazuki raised an eyebrow, "Mark of the Sound?"

Isai nodded, "It's a jutsu placed on a person that can multiply the amount of chakra they use, in addition to unlocking hidden potential of their abilities. It was derived from Orochimaru's curse mark, but ever since Jugo returned to the sound they have since perfected their research on the mark. After that, they stopped referring to it as a curse mark since it no longer bound the user to a specific person."

Kazuki stared into space trying to absorb the information, he pretty much summed it up to "multiply chakra."

"That sounds awesome! Why don't we have those?"

Shikamaru intervened, "Because they are too risky. Some people cannot handle the power it gives them and it warps their personality, as Atsui witnessed first hand. It can also lower their intelligence. This can cause them to have a hard time differentiating from friend and foe. The other drawback is that if you do not have proper control over your enhanced chakra, you can die from an overload. Using those marks requires special training."

Kazuki frowned, "It seems a bit unfair to me. No wonder the Sound have the most feared ninja in the world."

Shikamaru corrected him, "Actually, it is the best way to keep a balance of power between our nations. We still have considerably powerful clans and kekkei genkai such as the Byakugan. They don't have many clans, so they utilize what's leftover from Orochimaru's research."

Isai frowned as well, "Wasn't Orochimaru an S-rank criminal?"

Shikamaru nodded, "Yes, but his research has proven invaluable to the Great Nations. He developed a jutsu capable of reviving eroded soil that we've been using since its discovery."

Kazuki yawned.

Tayuya walked over interrupting Shikamaru's lecture.

Shikamaru looked up at her, "What's up?"

Tayuya's eyes were wide, "I can feel it. The baby is coming soon."


	8. Village Relations

**Chapter 8 Village Relations**

The Village Hidden in the Stones was a dark place since the war broke out. Poverty had overcome the vast majority of the population. It was a lawless place full of anarchy. A place where true warriors were bred. Much land had been lost since the recent invasion of the Sand and Sound. Some said that the village was coming to an end, but somehow it had survived. Remaining shinobi dedicated their lives to defending the borders from outsiders. The leaf had started this war assuming that a wanted criminal had infiltrated the area, then sent their henchmen out to find him. All the while evolving in the background, waiting for their opportune moment.

"This war is getting tiresome..." The Tsukage said as he looked out upon his village.

"Little by little those foreign nations have been consuming ours, and this newly founded nation, the Sound, will most likely take our place."

The shadow of a man stood in the corner of the and spoke, "That seems to be the case."

"My people feel hopeless, my nation is suffering. We must strike back, and soon."

The shadow remained apathetic, "Negotiations with the Storm Union are going well. It seems that they are taking notice of the ever expanding Triad. I wonder if they even know that the Cloud and Mist villages were building an army?"

The Tsukage sighed, "Probably not... Are you almost ready for the counter attack?"

"Of course."

"Thank you again...for bringing back my family...Madara..."

The shadow faded away and the Tsukage's tone of voice changed drastically, "It was no problem at all. You did loan me this brand new body, so I should be thanking you."

Madara looked across the room, "Zetsu, I hope you've prepared the new troops. It's time to start taking back Stone territory."

Zetsu emerged from the nearby wall, he was entirely one entity now. Black Zetsu now had full control of the body, "Right away."

* * *

><p>Otogakure was much larger than when Shikamaru had visited 12 years ago. Since then, it had expanded to become even larger than Kahona. Large steel walls surrounded the village and the Otokage's tower could be seen from the outside. This monstrous building replaced the dark church that stood there long ago.<p>

Kazuki was excited after seeing the village. He had never been inside of any major village except for the Leaf. At first, he was disappointed that he'd have to wait to see Keiko again, but he reconsidered when he entered the Sound gates. The city was huge and filled with people, they were doing incredibly well for a new nation. Kazuki looked to at Atsui who appeared just as amazed as he was. The city itself was much more industrious than the Leaf, utilizing machinery in many places, but still maintaining a large amount of trees in the village. Kazuki felt as though the Leaf had influenced this somehow. They were greeted by a mysterious man with a body similar to Gumo's upon entry. His six arms slightly covered by long, jet-black, hair. The man was incredibly muscular and about two feet taller than Shikamaru.

Kazuki felt intimidated by his appearance, but Shikamaru smiled as though seeing an old friend.

"Hey there kid! Long time no see. How's life been training the munchkins?" the large man asked sarcastically.

Shikamaru smiled, "I've trained them well enough to beat Sound genin, I guess I should be proud."

Tayuya frowned, "You don't have to brag about it. They just got lucky that my team was stupid enough to get taken out one at a time."

The large man laughed and looked at the Sound genin, "You kids have to remember, power doesn't always win a fight. Always have a plan, my friend Shikamaru from the Leaf here taught me that."

Gumo seemed shocked, "This guy is YOUR friend?"

The large man laughed again. Kazuki was confused, "I don't get it, who is this guy?"

Isai had been hiding behind Shikamaru since the man had appeared, she stammered as she spoke, "That's...That's the 8-Legged Demon..."

Kazuki was astonished, "Holy crap Sensei! You know the Otokage?"

"Just call me Kidomaru," Kidomaru announced, "and yes, I know Shikamaru. As a matter of fact, it's thanks to him I was able to make this village what it is today!"

Shikamaru frowned and scratched his neck, "I really don't deserve that much credit..."

"Nonsense!" Kidomaru blurted out, "Let's have a feast to commemorate our reunion!"

Tayuya's clone punched Kidomaru on the shoulder, knocking him back, "I'm having a baby dumbass! Now get us to the hospital!"

Isai and Atsui expected Kidomaru to strike her back, but instead he just groaned and rubbed his shoulder.

Kazuki laughed, "You sure know how to choose 'em Sensei."

Shikamaru sighed and looked at his genin, "You can all explore the area if you like. Just make sure you meet me at the hospital in a few hours."

Kazuki smiled, "Will do!"

Tayuya motioned to her genin, "You three, make yourselves useful and show them around."

Gumo tried to complain, but he knew that the stare Tayuya's clone was giving meant that she didn't want to hear it.

"Fine...where do you buggers want to go first?"

Atsui was the first to give a suggestion, "I want to see where you train."

Gumo smiled, "Sounds good to me."

Kazuki was surprised when Isai spoke up as well, "I'd like to see your history books, if you don't mind."

Gumo yawned, "A bookworm, eh? Sutishi, you're into that kind of thing right? You take her there. I'll take the other two."

Kazuki's stomach growled loudly and the other five genin looked at him, he scratched his head nervously, "I guess I could get something to eat..."

Gumo sighed, "Rin, you take him to get some food. We'll meet at the hospital in three hours."

Rin nodded blankly. Finally, Shikamaru took off with Tayuya and Kidomaru, Isai left with Sutishi, and Atsui left with Gumo, leaving Kazuki alone with Rin.

Kazuki smiled at her, "I guess it's just us, what do you want to eat?"

Rin didn't even look at Kazuki, "I'm not hungry, just tell me what you want, and I'll take you there."

Kazuki kept smiling, "Straight to the point. I guess I just want some ramen."

Rin started walking without another word.

"Hey, wait up!"

* * *

><p>"I think that your team needs to have a more clear battle plan next time you engage an enemy in battle. I don't think that 'distract them while I place traps' counts as a legitimate strategy." Isai said as she lectured Sutishi as they walked to the library.<p>

Sutishi nodded, "Coming up with battle plans was never my strong suit, and Gumo isn't the brightest person I know either, but he's the only one who has the guts to be the leader of our team. Which one of you is the leader of your team?"

Isai thought to herself, "I don't really think that we have much of a leader. We all play our part."

Sutishi laughed, "Typically, that's what members of a team do, but who plays the part of leader?"

(Atsui and Kazuki are both pretty commanding...)

Isai couldn't think of an answer, "I don't really know."

Sutishi couldn't help but throw out his opinion, "Why don't you step up and be the leader? I can pretty much tell from what you've told me that you are brilliant, and though you wont admit it, you're strong-willed too."

Isai blushed in embarrassment, "I'm not any of those things."

Sutishi stopped walking to look Isai in the eyes, his gaze was serious, "Look, I know that you're a genin, but you're a ninja now and you have to accept that. You must become the leader that your team needs, that way you don't lose anyone you're close to."

Isai looked down, "I don't know if I'm up to it... I can't even find the courage to tell the person I like that I like him..."

Sutishi didn't feel sorry for her, "If you can't grow up on your own, you're going to do it the hard way. Believe me, you don't want that. There are much worse feelings than rejection."

With that Sutishi turned away and kept walking. Isai couldn't help but be curious, "What do you mean by that?"

"It's a long story."

"We have time, besides, you obviously have something you need to get out."

Sutishi walked over to a bench and sat down, making room for Isai to sit next to him. He stared off into space a bit before speaking, "Gumo wasn't originally in our squad. We had another member named Tomoya. He was a pretty average genin, no special traits that stood out. Anyways, He, Rin, and I were all great friends. We had known each other throughout the academy and Rin had always been very 'close' to Tomoya. Those were happy times."

Isai spoke sympathetically, "What happened?"

The was a long pause before Sutishi spoke again, "We had been genin for more than a year, so Tomoya requested a C-rank mission. Kidomaru obliged and sent us on a scouting mission in Storm territory. We happened across a large Storm patrol consisting of two jounin and 6 chunin. We thought that they'd let us out with a warning, but they struck hard and fast. We barely managed to hold them off even after unleashing our Sound marks, but one of the jounin got around Tayuya and killed Tomoya. It happened so fast...there was so much rage, so much despair that Rin and I lost control in our 1st state. Together we killed off the jounin and two of the chunin while Tayuya got the rest... Even since then, Rin has been like this. A machine, until she goes into 1st state... When that happens, she relives Tomoya's death and kills every enemy in sight. I've lost track of how many lives she's taken after that day..."

Isai didn't know what to say. She felt so immature, being unable to comprehend such a feeling.

"Tomoya always smiled, he always laughed. No matter how bad the situation was, he'd just keep smiling..."

No tears came from Sutishi's eyes, the only hint of emotion detected in his voice was a hollow sadness. Sutishi realized what it had meant to be a ninja, and sometimes, a ninja would lose their closest friends.

* * *

><p>"You were pretty hot out there, I'll give you that." Gumo remarked snidely.<p>

Atsui brushed off his poor attempt at flirting, "I can't say the same for you. You got taken out by Kazuki. He's probably the least skilled member of our team."

"You guys just got lucky that we weren't allowed to go into 1st state. Then you'd be in some deep shit."

Atsui laughed, "You see, the difference between us Leaf ninja and you Sound ninja is that we don't rely on piteous artificial enhancements to be strong. We are just naturally stronger than you."

Gumo had a hard time understanding a bit of that, but he knew an insult when he heard one.

"You Leaf ninja say that because of your clans, but from what I see, you just hide behind your clan names to look strong. I bet I could take any one of you Leaf village losers, no matter what clan you are from!"

Atsui moved behind Gumo with great speed and placed a kunai to his throat, she whispered in his ear, "Trust me, I highly doubt that."

Gumo laughed, "Next time you make a move like that, I hope you can back it up."

Atsui felt the the points of four kunai against her stomach and ribs and pulled back.

Gumo smiled, "You shouldn't underestimate me, I'm the leader of my team for a reason. If those ear buds hadn't limited my hearing, your friend would've been cut up in seconds."

Atsui smiled as well, "Let's have a sparring match when we get to the barracks shall we?"

They stared each other down intensely until Gumo agreed, "Alright, sounds like fun!"

* * *

><p>"OH MAMMH GOHHD!" Kazuki swallowed, "This is the best ramen I've ever had!"<p>

The store clerk gloated, "Well of course! We have spices collected from the Earth, Wind, Fire, and Lightning Country! Our ramen is the best in the world!"

Kazuki wanted to defend Ichiraku, he really did, but this ramen was definitely better...

Kazuki wolfed down another bowl, then realized that Rin wasn't eating, "Hey Rin, I don't wanna look fat, you have some."

Rin responded by shaking her head, but Kazuki wouldn't have that, "Hey, we need a regular for the girl!"

Rin tried to refuse, "No, really, I'm alright..."

Kazuki laughed, "I'm paying, so it doesn't matter if you eat it."

Rin looked at the food that was put in front of her. She never really cared what her food tasted like, as a matter of fact, she didn't eat much anyway. She grabbed a bit of everything with her chopsticks and ate. "Not bad..."

Kazuki smiled at her, "It's awesome!"

Rin started eating slowly, but got progressively faster as she ate.

Kazuki was glad to see her change in attitude as they left. He didn't see anything different about her, but he could tell she was a bit happier.

"Hey Rin, let's grab some ice cream!" Kazuki announced.

Rin said nothing and started walking in a different direction.

(She probably doesn't notice it, but she's walking faster.)

Rin looked up at Kazuki, who noticed and smiled at her. Her face didn't change, she just looked back to where she was walking.

* * *

><p>"Rin, how about we get some ice cream?" Tomoya asked.<p>

Rin blushed and attempted to refuse, "No really, it's alright. I'm not hungry."

"I don't believe you! You never eat anything, you must be starving!" Tomoya declared.

Rin looked him over, his short silver hair flowing over his face in the cool breeze. It wasn't like she could say no to him.

Rin turned away and frowned, "Only if you pay for me, or else I wont go."

Tomoya laughed, "Well of course! I wouldn't be much of a gentleman if I didn't pay for my date."

The memory seemed so vivid in Rin's mind. The first date with Tomoya. The time when she was still just a child. A lot can change over a few years.

"Hey Rin, how about I get you a chocolate?"

Rin laughed, "Ew no way, Tomoya, I'm more of a strawberry person!"

Kazuki was completely taken aback by her response, "Um... Who's Tomoya?"

Rin's eyes widened and she looked away, "I'm sorry... You just remind me of someone I used to know."

Kazuki stared off into space, "They must have been a great person, that's the only time I've ever seen you smile."

Rin wouldn't eat her ice cream anymore, so Kazuki finished it off for her.

* * *

><p>Atsui stood across the arena from Gumo. The Otogakure Barracks was a huge building with many floors. The basement level was a large practice field.<p>

Gumo walked over to the wall, which had a few levers that popped out of it, "What kind of terrain would you like? Water, forest, mountain?"

"I want a straight fight, no tricks." Atsui spat.

Gumo smiled, "Alright then!"

Gumo pulled one of the levers, a field of artificial grass began to grow. Atsui hid her amazement.

Gumo stood across from Atsui as their judge walked between them.

The judge held his hand up, "This is a fight following the rules of a standard match. Treaties between villages will be upheld. If both contestants are ready then you may begin."

With that, the judge quickly leapt away from the battlefield. Atsui pulled out five shuriken and flung them at Gumo. Gumo reacted with a handsign, "Ninja Art: Spider Web Net!"

The web fired from Gumo's mouth collected the shuriken and headed straight for Atsui, who easily sidestepped. Gumo then pulled out a kunai and flung it at Atsui, who easily dodged this attack as well."

(He attached his thread to the end of his kunai. Same trick as before.)

She had learned from Kazuki that she'd need to use her chakra to cut the threads. She channeled earth chakra into a kunai of her own making the blade harder, and sharper. She then cut the thread leading to the kunai.

Gumo sneered, "So you cut my thread, huh?"

Atsui smiled and began to rush Gumo.

Gumo proceeded with an attempt to intercept her with his spider web nets, but she was incredibly agile. He needed to get some distance.

Gumo threw a few more kunai at Atsui, but they were easily deflected.

The spiders he had thrown should slow her down. Then he realized that her skin seemed to be melting off... A clay armor?

It was too late, Atsui had closed in.

Atsui's taijutsu was exceptional, striking through Gumo's six arms with ease. He could barely think, but he came up with idea. All he had to do was block one punch.

Atsui's strikes were fast, but Gumo had six arms. He held his arms out desperately, catching one of Atsui's fists. A swift roundhouse kick was barely blocked a second later.

(Got one!)

Gumo leapt back from Atsui, a large web extended from Gumo's hand to Atsui's fist. Atsui attempted to slice it off with her earth enhanced kunai, but the kunai only got stuck in the web. Gumo laughed, causing Atsui to look up. A swarm of small spiders was quickly scaling the web and on it's way to Atsui's arm. She shook the web violently, but not a single bug would fall off. What's worse is that she couldn't form any handsigns since the web was forcing her hand into a fist.

Gumo laughed out loud, "You can give up before you lose an arm you know!"

Atsui ignored him and condensed her chakra. She then slammed her webbed fist into the arena floor, ripping off a large portion of the web. Then immediately used her chakra enhanced kunai to remove the rest. The spiders cowered back to Gumo. Atsui shook off her hand and panted. Gumo was worn out as well, he had taken a massive beating when she got close to him. He couldn't let that happen again...

Atsui was really feeling her chakra use now. She knew how to use her chakra nature well, but never had she used this much before. The strain was getting to her.

(I had really wanted to force him into first state, but now I'll need to take him out before that.)

Gumo had similar thoughts.

(I can't let this rookie genin force me into first state, what would everyone think? I need to beat her now.)

Gumo pulled six kunai out from his pouch, he carefully attached a thread to each. He needed to make her expend her chakra and slow her down so he could take her down.

Atsui used the last of her reserve chakra to create one last clay armor around herself. She couldn't risk those spiders coming near her again. The rest of it would be dedicated to slicing webs. She would rely on her speed and taijutsu to finish him off.

Atsui made the first move, charging forward to close distance. Gumo leapt back, tossing one of his kunai into the ground in front of Atsui.

(I have to avoid wasting chakra on those threads.)

Gumo didn't stop there, he threw another into the ceiling above her. She looked up to avoid spiders that were falling from the kunai. Gumo made a handsign, "Sticky spider thread!"

Gumo launched a volley of spider threads in Atsui's direction, she was forced to dodge each to the best of her ability. Gumo kept the pressure on by throwing two more kunai in front of Atsui. He predicted her to go around, but instead she sliced right through the thread and came straight for him. He fired off a few more volleys in an attempt to stop her, but she kept slicing through them, Gumo was too late. She had closed in on him, immediately throwing a punch to his gut. The impact knocked him to his knees and he raised his hand in surrender, allowing the judge to put an end to the match.

Atsui laughed, "How's that? Still think you can everyone from my village?"

Her confidence didn't last as she fell to her knees as well, coughing on the way down.

Gumo smiled, "That was a good match. If I didn't have the extra year of experience, I'd say you could fight me in first state easily."

Atsui smiled back and held out her hand, Gumo shook it tightly.

"The name's Gumo. That was quite an entertaining fight."

"I'm Atsui Yamanaka. Let's do this again sometime."

Gumo regained his composure, "It's been about two hours. Wanna grab a bite to eat before we head to the hospital?"

Atsui stretched, "Sounds good to me. What are we eating?"

The two walked out, leaving the arena partly destroyed and covered in spider web.


	9. Fatherhood

**Chapter 9**

(Everything changes for a man when they have a child. What they once valued as the most important thing in their lives seems miniscule in comparison to the life of their child. Shikamaru may not be able to carry out my task for much longer. I may have to seek out a new chosen.)

Shikamaru stood over Tayuya's belly, staring at it for the longest of times. Tayuya had been complaining about Shikamaru getting carried away with her clone for quite awhile, but Shikamaru didn't pay her much attention. He put his hand on her belly and felt the baby kicking. Tayuya realized how entranced Shikamaru was and silenced herself.

(This is it. I'm going to be a father. Can I do this? Am I really cut out to be a parent?)

Tayuya grabbed Shikamaru's hand and smiled.

(That's right. This will all be fine. As long as Tayuya and I work together at this, we can do it.)

Shikamaru squeezed Tayuya's hand and smiled back.

(I'm ready. I can do this.)

Tayuya snapped Shikamaru out of his daze, "What are we going to name it?"

Shikamaru hadn't even thought about it. He had been so preoccupied with his genin that he hadn't come up with a name. Tayuya laughed, "It's alright. I already thought of one. Kotone."

Shikamaru sighed, "I knew you'd pick one to fit your musical taste."

Tayuya frowned, "You don't like it?"

Shikamaru grinned, "I like it."

Tayuya grinned as well, "Well you better, 'cause I'm not changing it."

"What if I give it a nickname?"

"I'll hurt you."

"I'm pretty sure the kid wont like that."

Tayuya stuck her tongue out a Shikamaru, who just shook his head.

After a bit, Shikamaru walked outside. The genin should be returning any time now. Of course, Isai would always be the one who was on time. Isai was the first to come back with Sutishi. Shikamaru figured that they must have gotten along well since they seemed pretty engaged in their conversation.

Atsui and Gumo came back next. They looked as though they had gotten into a fight, and knowing those two, they probably did. They were talking and laughing though, so it couldn't have been that bad.

Finally, Kazuki showed up with Rin, but something seemed different. Tayuya had told Shikamaru about all of her genin before. Rin was the one whose boyfriend died in battle. The one who had killed off her emotions. Why did her eyes look so different than a few hours ago?

(Oh no... Kazuki really needs to stop being so nice to everyone...)

Kazuki was being his normal self, laughing and telling jokes, and every once in awhile, one could see the faintest smile on Rin's face.

Sutishi seemed to notice this, as did Isai. Both stared at the two as they came back.

Isai whipered into Sutishi's ear, "She looks...different..."

Sutishi seemed expressionless due to his mask, but his voice proved otherwise, "I have a question. What is your friend like?"

Isai frowned, "He's friendly, nice, and is happy almost all the time. Even when things go badly for him, I've never seen him stress about it. Why?"

Sutishi's voice seemed lower than normal, "His face, his smile. He is just like Tomoya... No wonder Rin is like this..."

Isai went silent and turned to Atsui, "What happened to you? You look exhausted...and the other one is covered in bruises..."

Gumo frowned, "I have a name..."

Atsui ignored Gumo, "We had a sparring match. I won."

Gumo scoffed, "Barely."

Isai frowned, "You guys really shouldn't be fighting... We're supposed to be allies."

Atsui disregarded her, "He's fine."

Isai just sighed.

"What's up everyone?" Kazuki shouted.

Atsui scolded him, "Stop pretending like you aren't late. Shikamaru-sensei wanted us here for a reason."

Kazuki looked at Shikamaru, "What reason is that?"

Shikamaru scratched the back of his head, "Well as it turns out, the six of you will be stuck together for a little while longer."

Shikamaru expected someone to complain or groan, but there was no sound. Shikamaru felt slightly relieved, "Alright, no complaints there. Then my blood clone will lead you all back to the Leaf."

This caught Gumo's attention, "The Leaf? I've never even been there before! Where will we sleep?"

Shikamaru had everything prepared, "You'll meet with my associate Munashii there, she has a place prepared for you. You'll all be training with her until Tayuya, the baby, and I can be summoned there.

Kazuki smiled, "Sounds awesome! She's a good teacher."

Shikamaru laughed to himself, "I'd hope so, she's had plenty of experience."

"So when do we head out?" Sutishi asked.

"Tomorrow, early. So get some sleep. You'll meet with my clone by the gate."

"Shikamaru, come quick! It's coming." shouted a random hospital employee.

Shikamaru's eyes widened, "That's all I can say for today! I've gotta go!"

And with that, Shikamaru ran into the building.

* * *

><p>"Tayuya? Are you alright?" Shikamaru panicked as he heard Tayuya's breathing.<p>

Tayuya was breathing hard, and from what Shikamaru could tell, she was in great pain.

"OF COURSE I'M NOT ALRIGHT! THIS HURTS LIKE HELL!"

Shikamaru watched and worried as the doctors and medical-nin scampered around the room. He asked if he could help, but they said he'd be the most help if he could comfort Tayuya. He held her hand, but she was squeezing so hard that it felt like she had dislocated a bone in his hand. The entire room became a daze. The doctors became blurs in Shikamaru's vision. Time seemed to have stopped, until he heard Tayuya yell with incredible ferocity... This was it.

* * *

><p>A man came rushing into Kidomaru's office, panting and breathing heavily, "Kidomaru! Emergency on the offensive in Stone Country!"<p>

Kidomaru looked up, "What is it?"

"Stone ninja have begun to take back their land. Reports say that something is weird about them."

Kidomaru raised an eyebrow, "Weird?"

The man nodded, "Yes. According to the reports, they seem to be abnormally fast, and not just one of them, all of them."

Kidomaru scratched his chin, "That does sound a bit strange. It looks like I'll have to go back there sometime and see for myself."

* * *

><p>Shikamaru held Kotone in his arms. Her crying seemed to be only a dim noise in the background as Shikamaru stroked her head. He looked down at Tayuya, who was panting, but smiling. Shikamaru handed the child to her. Kotone's wailing came to an immediate halt as Tayuya sung.<p>

Shikamaru smiled. Tayuya's voice was something rare, even for Shikamaru, so he always sat back and appreciated it. It reminded him of all of the time he spent on the hill with Tayuya. Those precious moments he had alone with Tayuya where she would play or sing for him as he contemplated life. He looked upon his child. He was a father.

"Jashin?" Shikamaru called out in his mind.

The spirit spoke in an echoing monotone within Shikamaru's mind, "What is it Shikamaru?"

"Just in case I'm not there to protect her. Please keep Kotone safe."

Shikamaru could have sworn he heard a hint of compassion in the spirit's voice, "It will be done."

* * *

><p>The genin were separated so they could find places to sleep. Atsui had refused to bathe in a place where Kazuki could be anywhere near. So Kazuki requested to stay with Sutishi, while Atsui and Isai went home with Rin.<p>

The three konoinchi entered Rin's house. It was abnormally clean and everything was in perfect order.

Atsui couldn't help but blurt out, "Nice place you got here. Where do we sleep?"

Rin pointed to a room that had the door cracked, "I have extra futons."

Isai looked around, "Where are your parents?"

Rin surprised Atsui and Isai with her blank response, "They died when I was very young, during the founding of this village."

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to..."

Rin cut her off, "I never knew them, so there's no pain."

Atsui and Isai looked at each other before following Rin to her room.

The three unpacked the futons as Rin asked the Leaf genin a question, "The other member of your team... The loud one... He seems like a really nice person."

Isai was about to respond, but Atsui beat her to it, "He CAN be nice, when he isn't being a complete perv! I mean really! I catch him staring at me at least three times a day!"

Isai tried to defend him, "But he can be really nice..."

This didn't stop Atsui from ranting, "Don't even try to defend him Isai! I saw him staring at you too! He just can't get enough! I mean he has a girlfriend so why does he still go around and check out other women? It's ridiculous!"

Isai looked down and her face turned red. Rin sighed, "So he has a girlfriend..."

Atsui continued, "I don't know why a girl like Keiko would sink that low! You know what? I bet he blackmailed her!"

Isai spoke up, "I don't think Kazuki would do that..."

Atsui was very stubborn, "I think you are underestimating him."

Then Rin said something that caught both of them off guard.

"I think I like Kazuki."

Isai hid her expression while Atsui sighed, "Well I'm afraid you are out of luck, cause he's taken."

Rin shook her head, "No... I'm not going to stop because of something like that..."

Atsui frowned, "It's kind of despicable to go after a guy who's taken isn't it?"

Rin looked down, "Maybe... But he's the only one who been able to make me smile since..."

There was a long silence.

Isai stood up with and looked sorrowfully at Rin, "Since Tomoya died?"

Rin only nodded. Atsui yawned.

Rin looked up at Atsui with the faintest glimmer in her eye, "I've done many despicable things in these long 14 years. If it takes one more to make me feel alive again, then this is an offer I can't refuse."

Isai felt a strange empowerment from Rin's words, and felt Rin's hidden emotion flow though her.

Atsui grinned, "This should be entertaining to watch. Kazuki wont know what to do with himself."

* * *

><p>Sutishi watched as Kazuki leisurely rummaged through his closet for a futon. He didn't really mind of course, he had nothing of any value in that place.<p>

"AH HA!" Kazuki shouted as he pulled out the extra futon, "Found it!"

Sutishi scratched his head as he asked a question, "Hey Sarutobi-san."

"Call me Kazuki."

"Alright, Kazuki then. What did you and Rin do earlier that made her so happy?"

Kazuki shrugged, "I don't know, she didn't get very happy 'til I bought her some ice cream."

Sutishi didn't believe that, "Ice cream?"

Kazuki crawled into his futon, "Yep, ice cream. After that she actually started talking to me."

Sutishi crawled into his as well, "Hmmm"

Kazuki smiled, "You know, I thought she was kind of creepy at first, but it turns out she's kinda cool when you get to know her. A bit of a neat freak, but we all have our flaws."

Sutishi turned to face Kazuki, "She's gone through a lot. It has taken its toll on that poor girl."

A silence appeared as the moon rose into the sky. Kazuki looked up at the ceiling, "Who is Tomoya?"

Sutishi's hid his expression, "Where did you hear that name?"

"Rin said it while we were out earlier. You know him?"

Sutishi looked up at the ceiling, "He was our squad member before Gumo. He was killed in action."

Kazuki smiled, "He must have been a great guy. Rin seemed really happy when she mentioned his name."

Sutishi laughed a bit, "He really was... He was always smiling when everyone else couldn't."

Kazuki grinned, "A man of my own heart. Here's to his memory!"

Kazuki raised his imaginary wine glass to Sutishi who tapped his own against it. They both pretended to down their imaginary liquor before finally going to sleep.

* * *

><p>"Pssst Sutishi..."<p>

Sutishi rolled over in his futon.

"Sutishi... Wake up..."

Sutishi yawned and opened his eyes and was startled to see Kazuki looming over him.

"What's up?"

Sutishi groaned and pushed Kazuki out of his face, "Why are we up so early?"

Kazuki smiled, "Because we are going on a mission, for only us men!"

Sutishi raised an eyebrow, "Huh?"

Kazuki raised a fist into the air, "This is about the time the girls get up and go to the bathhouse! It is up to you and me to protect them! You up for it?"

Sutishi rolled over in his futon and prepared to go back to sleep.

"Don't ignore me!"

"You're a pervert..."

Kazuki laughed, "That's what one with such a closed mind would say, but you don't understand. I am conducting research just like the Great Sage Jiraiya did to write his books!"

"..."

Kazuki continued, "Yes, there is risk involved, but the reward is greater! Come and share in the spoils!"

Sutishi groaned, "You're really loud you know..."

"Oh come on! You know you want to!"

Sutishi let his mind wonder a bit... His cheeks turned red and he shook his head, "There's no way I could do that..."

Kazuki wouldn't take no for an answer, "Don't worry, I have disguises for us!"

Sutishi decided to crawl out of his futon, "Disguises?"

Kazuki nodded, "Yep! My Uncle Konohamaru taught me a jutsu that's perfect for infiltrating the bathhouse of the girls!"

Sutishi frowned, his facial expressions can actually be seen now that mask was off, "I can't believe I'm going along with this..."

Kazuki slowly made a few handsigns, "Alright, then you perform a transformation jutsu and the disguise is complete."

"..."

"Don't worry! This was a jutsu developed by the Hokage himself! However, I decided to change the name a bit to make it a bit less perverted."

Sutishi sighed as they got up and walked to the bathhouse.

When they finally arrived, they simultaneously made handsigns, "Reverse Gender Infiltration Jutsu!"

A cloud of smoke hid them for a few seconds, finally dissipating and revealing their new female forms.

"You're like five times hotter than I am! That's not fair!" Kazuki complained.

"This is so wrong..." Sutishi said.

"Nonsense! Sacrifices must be made for the sake of progress! Come! Let us research!" Kazuki said as he dragged Sutishi into the bathhouse.

"That wasn't so hard was it?" Kazuki said.

Suddenly, Kazuki saw Atsui walk with her towel into one of the mysterious rooms.

"Target acquired! Alright Sutishi, here's the plan..."

Kazuki looked around, "Sutishi?"

(Crap he bailed. Guess I have to go it alone.)

Kazuki crept toward the room that he saw Atsui enter. Suddenly he bumped into someone.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

He looked at Rin who he had bumped into and smiled nervously, "I didn't mean to bump into you like that."

Rin looked up at Kazuki blankly, "They told me you were perverted, but I didn't think it was this bad..."

(Shit! She saw right through me!)

Kazuki laughed nervously, "This is totally not what it looks like..."

Rin shook her head in mock disappointment, "It's pretty clear that you made yourself look like a girl to sneak into the bathhouse."

Kazuki narrowed his eyes and frowned, "Name your price..."

Rin smiled, "You have to treat me to dinner at least three times while we are at the Leaf Village."

Kazuki rubbed the back of his head, "I'm not sure my girlfriend will like that..."

Rin sighed, "Well I guess your girlfriend would love to know what you are doing right now, wouldn't she?"

Kazuki groaned, "OK! You win! I'll treat you to dinner!"

Rin smiled again, "Just tell your girlfriend you lost a bet."

Kazuki sighed, "Fine..."

Rin pushed him out of the bathhouse, "Good, now go clean up in the right bathhouse."

Kazuki moaned and walked off.

(I wonder where Sutishi went...)

* * *

><p>Sutishi hid in the warm waters of the bath, he felt a nosebleed trying to force its way out and held it in. He had seen Atsui coming and ran to the nearest exit... But this wasn't an exit...Sutishi watched more women come in. His face turned red. He had only wanted to escape... Where was Kazuki?<p>

"Hey are you alright over there?" A woman called.

Sutishi responded in the best female impersonation her could muster, "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

(I'm gonna kill that kid...)


	10. Character Index

**Character Index**

** I felt this to be a helpful addition to the story seeing as how people have trouble following the Japanese names. With the chunin exams fast approaching, many names are going to start popping up, so I'm creating this index to help out anyone who is confused.**

**Team 1**

**Led by: Munashii Kaguya**

**Specialty: Bones, taijutsu**

**Age: ?**

Recruited by Shikamaru in Jashin's Curse after the spirit Jashin proclaimed him as his new chosen. She has the power of immortality and is the only known remainder of the Kaguya clan, who were well known for their kekkei genkai that allowed them to manipulate their skeletal structure. She is a tall but slender woman who has the appearance of someone in their early 20's. She has long, white hair and two dots on her forehead. She is a vicious fighter with strong offensive and defensive capabilities. Her personality is very serious when it comes to training and fighting, but slightly more carefree to other matters. She is incredibly loyal to Jashin and Shikamaru.

**Namimaru Murakami**

**Specialty: Physical combat, Elemental Jutsu**

**Age: 12**

An average ninja in every way and constantly mocked by his peers, until he asked for the help of an unknown entity. The entity has given him a new found confidence as well as a great increase of physical strength. He is at medium height with constantly messed up auburn hair. He is generally shy and reclusive, only gaining confidence when showing off or challenged by someone. He has had a long childhood crush on his squad mate, Yuna.

**Yuna Nara**

**Specialty: Clan Inherited Jutsu**

**Age: 12**

A peppy and upbeat girl from the Nara Clan who has trained directly under Munashii. She is a mildly attractive girl who gets along well with her squad and constantly cheers on Namimaru when he falls behind. She is a girl of average height and appearance with light blonde hair.

**Keiko Aburame**

**Specialty: Insects, Medical Ninjutsu**

**Age: 13**

She is considered one of the more adept genin of her class, as well as the most beautiful. She is unlike other members of her clan because she doesn't hide most of her body, preferring to wear short sleeves and shorts without a hood of glasses to hide her eyes. She has jet black hair and Kazuki describes her as "developing early". Her personality is very straight forward and she easily voices her opinions, including her disappointment with Namimaru. She has taken a sudden interest in Kazuki due to his loud and happy demeanor.

**Team 2**

**Led by: Neji Hyuga (Or Hyuuga, I'm not sure)**

**I don't think descriptions are necessary here.**

**Tsubaki Akimichi**

**Specialty: Clan Inherited Jutsu and Techniques**

**Age: 12**

Though she is from the Akimichi clan, you wouldn't able to tell by looking at her. She is a strong and slender girl who has quite a bit of pride. She is well aware of her attractiveness and knows when people are staring, quickly giving them a threatening glance as a hint of what she will do to them. She has long, bright red hair and an intimidating personality.

**Joukei Hyuga**

**Specialty: Clan Inherited Techniques**

**Age: 13**

A Hyuga clan member personally trained by Neji. He is incredibly overconfident and belittles others believing their abilities to be inferior. He is referred to by the adults as a 'Second Neji' due to their similar speed in mastering the gentle fist, though, it appears as if Joukei has actually mastered a bit more than Neji at his level. He belongs to a noble branch of the Hyuga Clan and is not afflicted with their clan's infamous curse mark. He looks similar to young neji, with the exception of his much more expensive clothing and more defined brunette hair.

**Jin Hatake**

**Specialty: Lightning Fast Movements and hand-to-hand combat, Intelligence**

**Age: 10**

The youngest of the graduating genin due to his ability to pass each class with flying colors, allowing him to speed through the system with ease. He has been personally trained by his father, Kakashi, and possesses a very high I.Q. When the entire class was given their intelligence test, he scored second only to Isai. He is short with spiky silver hair similar to his father's and hides most of his features behind a mask that he never removes. However, both of his eyes can be seen since he does not possess a Sharingan.

**Team 3**

**Led by: Ino Yamanaka**

**Once again, no description necessary.**

**Reika Inuzuka**

**Specialty: Animal empathy, Clan Inherited Jutsu**

Reika has the typical temperament of most members of her clan. She is hot-headed and easily angered, as well as very good with animals. However, Reika takes this to a different level. She was born with the ability to feel the presence and instincts of nearby animals. She is average height with spiky brown hair and is considered mildly attractive in the eyes of Kazuki.

**Hanabi Asano**

**Specialty: Bombs and Pyrotechnics**

**Age: 12**

Hanabi is a typically quiet girl who tends to keep to herself. She has slightly twitchy mannerisms and tends to have incredible mood swings. Her fiery red hair always seems to start in pristine condition, but as the day progresses, seems to get more and more unruly. She is an average height and considered mildly attractive in Kazuki's eyes.

**Misaki Inaba**

**Specialty: Medical Ninjutsu, ?**

**Age: 13**

Misaki is a strange individual who was personally trained by Shizune in medical ninjutsu. She is a quiet girl with strange mannerisms, such as fiddling with her hair. She has has a dark violet tint to her hair and is at an average height. No one seems to know what she does in her spare time.

**Team 4**

**Led by: Shikamaru Nara**

For those of you who haven't read the previous story I've written, I suggest you do so. If you are too lazy then here's the tl:dr version: Shikamaru became the next of Jashin's chosen and has resolved to restore Jashin's original purpose which is returning human blood to the Earth. He got together with Tayuya, various things happened leaving her pregnant. He has powers bestowed upon him by Jashin.

**Kazuki Sarutobi**

**Specialty: Hand-to-hand combat, Cleverness, Elemental Jutsu**

**Age: 12**

The son of Kurenai and Asuma. He is a very energetic and loud person with a perverted mind. Though not the most intelligent of his class, he is creative and can usually find ways to trick his opponents into letting down their guard. His taijutsu is above average and he has discovered that he has received a special kekkei genkai that has been passed down from deep within the family tree. This has given him the ability to master his chakra elements with amazing speed. Kazuki is slightly tall and has short, jet black hair. His eyes match the strange color of his mother's.

**Isai Kira**

**Specialty: Intelligence, Chakra Control**

**Age: 11**

Isai is an exceptionally intelligent girl which has allowed her to skip a grade in the academy. Though her combat and jutsu skills are average, she makes up for it with precise mathematical reasoning and a strong sense of foresight. She is a short girl with glasses and bright purple hair that she doesn't keep very tidy. Though every once and awhile, she will try to show off to gain the attention of Kazuki, who she has always looked up to and admired. She has proven to have quite a bit of excess chakra by being able to easily create multiple shadow clones without losing much energy.

**Atsui Yamanaka**

**Specialty: Clan Inherited Jutsu, Earth Style Ninjutsu**

**Age: 13**

A very skilled genin who trains extensively every day. She trained on her own after most days of class in the academy giving her an edge over her classmates. She is a tall girl with long silver hair. She is very confident and opinionated making her rather difficult to get along with. She gets jealous of Kazuki since things come to him so easily while she works so hard to get stronger.

**Team 5**

**Led by: Rock Lee**

**Specialty: Kicking Ass**

**Age: 12 years older than he was in Shippuden**

Yeah. He's Rock Lee. He wears ten ton weights on his legs.

**Morodashi and Marudashi**

**Specialty: Combination attacks, Physical strength**

**Age: 12**

A rare group of ninja twins who are almost perfectly in sync with one another. They work as the perfect tag team and are equally perverted. They have the tendency to say what they shouldn't and are both lazy and impolite. They both have spiky, light brown hair and are near impossible to tell apart. They like to finish each other's sentences to confuse people and are rarely seen without both twins around.

**Lee Sin**

**Specialty: Physical Combat, Advanced Non-visual Senses**

**Age: 14**

** (**Inspired by a character in League of Legends) Lee Sin is a tall and muscular blind boy who has been constantly set back by his handicap. His long black hair obscures his facial features. Other ninja in the academy had never believed he could become a real ninja and had always taunted him, but Lee Sin silently endured their insults and mocking. Lee Sin aims to prove that he is quite capable of becoming the worlds strongest ninja and his handicap only makes him stronger. Though he has been held back quite a bit by his handicap, he has never slowed down and never given up. This caught Rock Lee's eye and caused Rock Lee to demand him as a student.

**Sound Curse Mark Specialists**

**Led by: Tayuya**

**Specialty: Wind style, Summoning, Genjutsu**

**Age: 26**

Once a member of the sound four, she barely survived an encounter with Temari and returned to the Sound. She joined up with Kidomaru after Orochimaru's death and played a large role in the rebellion against the Cult of Jashin. Now that Shikamaru is in control of Jashin's power, Tayuya has reluctantly accepted the power of Jashin in case she needs to defend her child. She has been imbued with Jashin's power that prevents her from aging anymore than her physical peak that she has recently reached.

**Gumo**

**Specialty: Multiple arms, Spider-based techniques**

**Age: 13**

Gumo is an overconfident, cocky genin coming from Kidomaru's unnamed clan. He shares many of the same aspects of Kidomaru however uses a different style of fighting, focusing more on his webs and the use of actual spiders than chitinous armor. He is a very skilled fighter, though he tends to let down his guard when he's winning and always plays with his opponent. He is a big flirt and loves to get under peoples skin. He is an average height with dark skin and short black hair that is always tied behind his head.

**Sutishi**

**Specialty: Inhuman accuracy**

**Age: 14**

Sutishi is a quiet and reserved member of the Sound genin. He is short and most of his features behind a mask and hood. He isn't really the type of person that leads and tends to follow others, regardless of how stupid their ideas may be. His true abilities have yet to be revealed.

**Rin**

**Specialty: Genjutsu, Summoning**

**Age: 14**

Rin is a strange girl who always tends to spend her time alone since the tragic death of her boyfriend. She has a short temper and has absolutely no problem killing people. She is a vicious fighter who has a large variety of techniques at her disposal. Using her curse mark, she can create ghastly apparitions that maintain a slight physical form, allowing them to damage and grab opponents as well as block attacks that would be aimed at Rin. She is a small, pale-skinned girl with black hair that blocks one of her eyes.

**Temari's Squad**

**Led by: Temari**

**Specialty: Wind Style Jutsu**

**Age: 26**

After losing Shikamaru to Tayuya she has slightly resented both of them, holding a small grudge. She does, however, want to stay friends with Shikamaru since he still escorts her around the Leaf. Their meetings started as slightly awkward, but became less so as the years went by. Now she always inquires about Shikamaru's current life and gets angry when he leaves her out of things. She has earned the title of the White Cyclone for her feats of battle in the Earth Country.

**Kotaro**

**Specialty: ?**

**Age: 14**

Kotaro is the apparent leader of Temari's genin. He is very calm and polite. He is tall and hides most of his features behind clothing and face paint. Like the other Sand genin, he carries a large object on his back.

**Mai**

**Specialty: ?**

**Age: 14**

She has black, spiky hair and stands and an average height. She carried an incredibly large sword on her back.

**Kaen**

**Specialty: ?**

**Age: 14**

He is a tall, brutish boy with a shaved head. He carries a large urn on his back.


	11. Rivals!

**Rivals!**

Shikamaru's clone yawned, "I certainly didn't expect Sutishi to be the latest one here, but now that he is, we can head out."

Sutishi shot Kazuki a deadly glare causing Kazuki to laugh nervously.

Kazuki tried to distract him, "So why can't we just be summoned there like you and your woman?"

Shikamaru's clone responded blankly, "Because you are energetic genin and should easily be able to make it back to the Leaf in less than a day without wasting anyone's chakra. It builds character."

Gumo and Kazuki groaned simultaneously.

The clone ignored them and began moving toward the destination. The Sound Village was slightly closer to the Leaf than the trade route in the Rain Country, making the journey much easier. It would only take about a day. The six genin got along pretty well along the way. No more fighting or tests of strength. The one break they took was mostly uneventful, but somehow everyone seemed to notice one thing. Rin seemed much different, she seemed almost happy.

"What's with her?" Gumo had whispered to Sutishi, "She's so... Cheery... It's weird."

Sutishi shrugged, "Maybe this was what she needed, a carefree group of people to be around."

Gumo watched Rin as she looked at Kazuki, he was telling stories that were absolutely ridiculous and she laughed every time he'd try to make a joke. Gumo raised an eyebrow, "She's a little bit obvious since we've been around her so much eh? She's totally crushing on that punk."

Sutishi nodded, "I figured that as well."

Gumo laughed, "This is actually pretty funny. I'm going to remember this for when future taunting is in order."

Sutishi shook his head, "That doesn't seem like your brightest idea."

* * *

><p>After the break, the trip resumed. It was an uneventful trip in which Kazuki and Gumo complained for a small while until Atsui shut them both up.<p>

Finally, they were at the Leaf Village Gates. Gumo looked around in wonder, "It's all... Naturey!"

Shikamaru nodded, "Most of this was the work of my clan. The Nara clan has dedicated themselves to the expansion of nature and creation of new life. Ever since the majority of the plantlife was devastated by Pain, it has given us an opportunity to begin anew."

Gumo looked around at the lush forests surrounding the village. The amount of plant life made this place look like the exact opposite of the Sound Village's mechanical cities, "It's kinda cool!"

Kazuki smiled, "Home sweet home!"

They passed through the gates without an issue, but there was something strange about the people there. Everyone was staring at the 6 genin.

Gumo frowned, "I get the feeling that they don't like us."

Isai spoke up, "The Leaf has a bad history for the Sound, and even though we've been allied for so long, our people tend to avoid one another."

Gumo sighed, "Glad we have a welcome party..."

Sutishi added on, "Indeed..."

Rin glared at some of the people staring at her, scaring them off.

Kazuki just smiled, "Don't worry about it, they'll warm up to you."

The Sound ninja weren't reassured by his statement. They weren't used to getting stared at like this, as a matter of fact, the were pretty popular with their village because they were Tayuya's students.

The awkward silence was broken as Ino ran up and gave Shikamaru's clone a hug, her genin trailed behind her.

"Shikamaru! I haven't seen you in so long! How's Tayuya and the baby?"

Shikamaru rubbed the back of his head, "It's a girl."

Ino began to squeal.

Kazuki turned away, unable to bear Ino's high pitched voice.

Ino's genin were staring at the sound genin.

Reika Inuzuka stepped forward at Gumo with a cocky grin, "So these are the kind of freaks they produce in the sound? I was expecting more after all of the stories. I hope those 6 arms don't get in the way of each other when you try to block."

Kazuki frowned.

(Well she's obviously their team leader, the others are too shy to take the position.)

Gumo grinned back, "Quite the opposite actually, I doubt someone of your skill would even be able to land a hit on me."

Reika growled, it sounded pretty realistic, almost beastly.

"Calm yourself Reika, he's just taunting you." Misaki said as she placed a hand on Reika's shoulder.

Gumo laughed obnoxiously, "And you say I'm the freak, you sound like a mutt that needs to be put down."

Reika snarled, "You watch your back, freak."

The third member of Ino's team, Hanabi, spoke up, "I think the extra arm thing is kinda cute actually..."

Gumo was already next to her as if Reika had never existed, she poked his arms as he spoke, "These arms are more than just for looks you know, I can come to your place if you..."

Gumo was interrupted by a swift kick to the side by Atsui.

"Hey! I was trying to score!" Gumo complained.

Atsui turned and walked away.

Hanabi giggled, "It's ok, I have to leave anyways. Hopefully I'll see you at the Chunin exams."

Gumo winked, "You can count on it."

Reika began griping at Hanabi about what had happened, but the genin followed Ino out of hearing distance.

Gumo turned to Atsui, "What was that all about?"

Atsui scowled, "I figured since your sensei wasn't here to stop you from being a pervert, I'd take the job."

"Alright kiddies! Time to move out!" Shikamaru announced.

Atsui glared at Shikamaru for his demeaning statement, but was promptly ignored.

Shikamaru once again tried to proceed down to the Kahona Bazaar, only to flinch at a very familiar voice.

"Hey, Shikamaru!"

The genin turned around to see yet another attractive blond woman calling out Shikamaru.

Gumo laughed to himself, "Looks like Tayuya has competition eh?"

The woman walked up with her own group of genin behind her, they wore the forehead protectors of the Sand.

Kazuki scratched his head, "How do you know her sensei?"

Shikamaru sighed, "We dated back in the day..."

Kazuki read Shikamaru's expression, "You don't seem very happy to see her..."

Shikamaru sighed louder this time, "If only you knew kid."

The woman walked up to the genin and stared at each, then she pointed at Kazuki, "This is the one, he has his mother's eyes."

Shikamaru nodded. Kazuki frowned, "Why are you pointing at me, I have a name you know."

The woman smiled, "Shikamaru has told me about you Kazuki. You look a lot like your father."

Kazuki raised an eyebrow, "Who are you?"

"I'm Temari, pleased to meet you."

All eyes turned to Gumo in his sudden outburst, "The White Cyclone! You and Shikamaru are legends in Otogakure, I can't believe I've met them all in this short amount of time!"

Temari squinted, "Who the hell is this brat?"

She turned to Shikamaru, "Why are you babysitting Sound ninja?"

Shikamaru shrugged, "I have my orders."

Kazuki smiled, "Well Tayuya's baby is coming, so he's taking her genin for a bit."

Shikamaru glared angrily at Kazuki.

"Baby? What baby?" Temari asked angrily.

Shikamaru backed away slowly and pretended to laugh.

Temari's smile instantly to an expression of pure rage, "YOU AREN'T EVEN MARRIED YET! YOU AREN'T SUPPOSED TO HAVE A CHILD!"

Shikamaru took another step back, "It just kinda happened..."

Temari walked towards Shikamaru menacingly. Shikamaru quickly started to run with Temari in tow, leaving the sand genin with the other six.

Kazuki looked at them each closely. Each had a large item strapped to their back. Kazuki held out his hand to introduce himself, "What's up? I'm Kazuki Sarutobi."

The one in the middle approached him, he wore heavy clothes, hiding the majority of his body. His face was covered in strange purple markings and his hair was hidden under a black hood. He didn't seem to blink very often. He held a large item wrapped in in bandages on his back.

The sand genin held out his hand, "I'm Kontaro."

Kontaro looked at the girl on his left, she had black, spiky hair and looked like she had seen quite a bit of fighting. She had a large metal sword strapped to her back. Kazuki raised an eyebrow, there was no way she'd be able to use such a thing in battle.

"That's Mai."

Kontaro looked at the boy on his left, he was burly for his age and looked pretty well built. He was tall and had a shaved head. He carried a large urn on his back and liquid could be heard splashing around inside of it.

"That's Kaen."

All three of these genin seemed to be slightly lacking in personality, Kazuki thought they were kinda boring. Kontaro looked over Kazuki, "I look forward to seeing you in the exams."

Kazuki smiled, "Can't wait."

The three genin left to follow after Temari.

Gumo yawned, "Now what?"

Kazuki shrugged.

"Now I'll take you to where you'll be staying." Yuna told them as she stepped into sight.

Gumo sighed, "What about training?"

"My sensei will take care of it."

Gumo complained, "I really don't think your sensei has time to train 9 genin."

Yuna laughed, "Don't underestimate Munashii-Sensei. She can do anything."

Sutishi frowned, "I've read about her, it took both Shikamaru and Tayuya to take her on. I didn't realize she was teaching genin here."

Gumo smiled widely, "These chunin exams are gonna be wild."

* * *

><p>Naruto laid back in his chair. With the chunin exams coming up he had quite a bit of work laid out for him. The exams were taking place in Kahona this time around, and there were a lot of foreign ninja entering the village. Security had to be very strict and everyone entering the village needed to be searched. Not to mention the fact that the Storm Union wanted to take place in this exam for the first time in ages. The emissary from the Storm had come in to arrange the entry of several squads of Cloud and Mist genin. An emissary from the Rain entered a few groups of it's own. Then quite a few Sand and Sound groups were entered as well. Along with the groups from Kahona itself, this was going to be the most populated chunin exam in history.<p>

"Hokage-sama!" Shizune exclaimed as she entered the room.

Naruto sighed, "I told you... Just call me Naruto."

Naruto then noticed Shizune's panicked expression, "What's going on?"

Shizune panted, "Another emissary came, he's waiting at the gate."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Why didn't you let him in?"

Shizune looked Naruto in the eye, "He's from the Hidden Stone."

Naruto rubbed his head in disbelief, "This is the first time we've heard from them in years! Why now?"

"The man at the gate said that the hidden stone wished a squad of their genin to participate in the chunin exam."

Naruto frowned, "Bring him in under heavy guard. Search him first."

It wasn't long before the dark-skinned man entered the room under the escort of several jounin.

Naruto looked him in the eye, "What are you guys trying to pull? You haven't responded to single messenger hawk we've sent, nor have you let a single emissary pass your borders."

The emissary looked up to Naruto, "Iwagakure humbly refuses communication with the unholy triad. We disagree greatly with your methods and will not stoop so low as to let you browse our lands."

Naruto became frustrated, "Whatever happened to our alliance? We were supposed to be working together to stop the Akatsuki! We know their leader infiltrated your country, but since you wouldn't allow us to help search for him, everything collapsed!"

The emissary nodded, "Indeed, but that isn't in my hands. I'm merely a messenger, and I come with a proposal."

Naruto calmed down, "The Hidden Stone can participate in the chunin exam."

The emissary was taken aback, "That is great, but that's not the only thing I came here for. I came to allow you to search for Madara within our borders, on one condition."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "And that is?"

The man was blunt, "Get the Sand and Sound to forfeit the land they took from us."

Naruto shook his head, "I already know that the Sound will not do that. If anything, they'll just keep taking your land until it's all gone. I can however convince the Sand Village to move their troops out, making it easier for you to fight the Sound."

The emissary bowed, "I will take your decision to the Tsuchikage and the genin will be here in time for the first exam."

Naruto sighed, "Escort him out of the village."

The jounin bowed before taking the emissary out.

Shizune waited for them to leave, "Are you sure this is fine with the other villages?"

Naruto nodded, "I'm sure they are all dying to see what a stone ninja is capable of."

He laughed to himself a bit, "I'm kind of curious myself."

* * *

><p>The moon was high in the sky as Kazuki walked to his spot, Keiko knew he was back, so he figured she'd be waiting for him. He was right, she was lying on the hill staring at the night sky.<p>

She smiled as she saw him coming, her smile always made him feel warm.

Neither of them said anything, they only laid there and held hands until they felt that it was time to go. They had both just got back from an exhausting mission, they just wanted to relax with one another.

The silence was divine, but Keiko decided to end it with a question, "Who is your hero Kazuki?"

Kazuki turned to her, "Why ask all of a sudden?"

Keiko continued staring at the sky, "I was just curious."

Kazuki looked back up to the night sky, "Tell me yours first."

Keiko smiled, "I've always looked up to Ten-Ten."

Kazuki raised his eyebrows, "Why her? She hasn't really done anything amazing."

Keiko smiled, "That's exactly it. She isn't someone who stands out or has special powers. She just tries hard using her ordinary abilities. She's the only true ninja by my standards."

Kazuki frowned, "I guess so."

Keiko turned to him, "Now you."

Kazuki turned away, "I don't know, I guess it would be the 6th Hokage. He defeated the Akatsuki after all."

Keiko frowned, "Strange, I thought it would be your Dad."

Kazuki frowned, except this time it wasn't out of confusion or sarcasm. This time, Kazuki felt something he wasn't used to feeling, "Why would he be?"

Keiko looked concerned, "He died for the village, he was a hero."

Kazuki looked at her grimly, "That's what everyone tells me, but I don't see it."

Keiko frowned, "Why not?"

Kazuki became angry, something that Keiko had never imagined could happen, "He went out to fight someone he knew he couldn't beat while my mother still had me inside of her! If he valued my life at all then he would've done the smart thing and waited for back up, but no, he had to die! He left my mother all alone, he left me alone... Now I'm just the bastard child of the Sarutobi Clan..."

Kazuki stood up. No tears came to his eyes, he had cried enough tears already, now the only thing left was resentment. Keiko tried to comfort him, but this was something she would never understand. Kazuki dealt with this pain alone, and that is how it would stay. Kazuki held out his hand to help Keiko up. She took it and he proceeded to take her home. This was a different kind of silence now. Keiko felt bad that she had even brought it up, but it was too late now. Kazuki obviously hid something beneath his cheery exterior, something he wasn't ready to share with her yet.

He left her at her house and kissed her cheek. She smiled and watched him walk away without a word.


End file.
